g  g 


^        O 


?    § 

i  3 


f  sJ^1  *f    ivr^f  ^ 

"%a3MNn»v       MOJITO  jo^ 


2    i 
I    1 


fe      ^f  ™^r     J 
S\^|    | 


1      I 


'J-* 


_        g 


j 


19 

ry0ANVH8iH^ 


rtfmmi$ 


^ffWBVB% 

G 


fy»SOV^ 


jM-8NIVB% 

.c»,         <*& 


hclOS-ANCflfx 


^•MAJWfe. 


Blind  Men  by  the  Wayside  Begging. 


THE    WOMEN 


OF 


THE  ARABS. 

WITH  A  CHAPTER  FOR  CHILDREN. 
BY 

REV.  HENRY  HARRIS  JESSUP,  D.D., 

Seventeen  years  American  Missionary  in  Syria. 


EDITED   BY 

REV.  C.  S.  ROBINSON,  D.D.,  &  RKV.  ISAAC  RILEY. 


'  The  threshold  weeps  forty  days  when  a  girl  is  born." 

— Mt.  Lebanon  Proverb. 


NEW  YORK : 

DODD  &  MEAD,  PUBLISHERS, 
762   BROADWAY. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  yoar  187  i,  by 

DODD  &  MEAD, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washinsrtiy 


NKWBOBGU  STEREOTYPE  Co. 


/777 


IS  DEDICATED  TO  THE 
CHRISTIAN  WOMEN  OF  AMERICA. 


1779006 


PREFACE. 


HHHE  Orient  is  the  birthplace  of  prophecy.  Before 
the  advent  of  our  Lord,  the  very  air  of  the  East 
was  resounding  with  the  "  unconscious  prophecies  of 
heathenism."  Men  were  in  expectation  of  great 
changes  in  the  earth.  When  Mohammed  arose,  lie  not 
only  claimed  to  be  the  deliverer  of  a  message  inspir- 
ed of  Allah,  but  to  foretell  the  events  of  futurity. 
He  declared  that  the  approach  of  the  latter  day 
could  be  distinguished  by  unmistakable  signs,  among 
which  were  two  of  the  most  notable  character. 

Before  the  latter  day,  the  sun  shall  rise  in  the 
West,  and  God  will  send  forth  a  cold  odoriferous  wind 
blowing  from  Syria  Damascena,  which  shall  sivccp 
away  the  souls  of  all  the  faithful,  and  the  Koran  it- 
self. What  the  world  of  Islam  takes  in  its  literal  sense, 
we  may  take  in  a  deeper  spiritual  meaning.  Is  it 
not  true,  that  far  in  the  West,  the  gospel  sun  began 
to  rise  and  shed  its  beams  on  Syria,  many  years 
ago,  and  that  in  our  day  that  cold  odoriferous  wind 
of  truth  and  life,  fragrant  with  the  love  of  Jesus  and 
the  love  of  man,  is  beginning  to  blow  from  Syria 
Damascena,  over  all  the  Eastern  world  !  The  church 
and  the  school,  the  printing  press  and  the  translated 


VJ  PREFACE. 

Bible,  the  periodical  -and  the  ponderous  volume,  the 
testimony  of  living  witnesses  for  the  truth,  and  of 
martyrs  who  have  died  in  its  defence,  all  combine  to 
sweep  away  the  systems  of  error,  whether  styled 
Christian,  Moslem  or  Pagan. 

The  remarkable  uprising  of  Christian  women  in 
Christian  lands  to  a  new  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
woman  in  heathen  and  Mohammedan  countries,  is 
one  of  the  great  events  of  the  present  century.  This 
book  is  meant  to  be  a  memorial  of  the  early  laborers  in 
Syria,  nearly  all  of  whom  have  passed  away.  It  is  in- 
tended also  as  a  record  of  the  work  done  for  women 
and  girls  of  the  Arab  race  ;  to  show  some  of  the  great 
results  which  have  been  reached  and  to  stimulate  to 
new  zeal  and  effort  in  their  behalf. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  this  work,  it  seemed  ne- 
cessary to  describe  the  condition  of  woman  in  Syria 
when  the  missionaries  first  arrived,  and  to  examine, 
the  different  religious  systems,  which  affect  her  po- 
sition. 

In  preparing  the  chapter  on  the  Pre-Islamic 
Arabs,  I  have  found  valuable  materials  in  Chenery's 
Hariri,  Sales  and  Rodwell's  Koran,  and  Freytag's 
Arabic  Proverbs. 

For  the  facts  about  the  Druze  religion,  I  have 
consulted  Col.  Churchill's  Works,  Mount  Lebanon, 
and  several  Arabic  manuscripts  in  the  mission  library 
in  Beirut. 

Rev.  S.  Lyde's  interesting  book  called  the  "  Asian 
Mystery,''  has  given  me  the  principal  items  with 
regard  to  the  Nusairiyeh  religion.  This  confirms 


PREFACE.  vii 

the  statements  of  Suleiman  Effendi,  whose  tract,  re- 
vealing the  secrets  of  the  Nusairiyeh  faith,  was 
printed  years  ago  at  the  Mission  Press  in  Beirut,  and 
translated  by  that  ripe  Arabic  Scholar  Prof.,E.  Salis- 
bury of  New  Haven.  The  bjoody  Nusairiyeh  never 
forgave  Suleiman  for  revealing  their  mysteries  ;  and 
having  invited  him  to  a  feast  in  a  village  near  Adana, 
1871,  brutally  buried  him  alive  in  a  dunghill! 

For  the  historical  statements  of  this  volume,  I  am 
indebted  to  the  files  of  the  Missionary  Herald,  the 
Annual  Reports  of  the  Syria  Mission,  the  archives 
of  the  mission  in  Beirut,  the  memoir  of  Mrs.  Sarah 
L.  Smith,  and  private  letters  from  Mrs.  Whiting, 
Mrs.  De  Forest,  and  various  missionary  and  native 
friends. 

Information  on  the  general  work  of  the  Syrian 
Mission  may  be  found  in  Dr.  Anderson's  "  Missions 
to  the  Oriental  churches,"  Rev.  Isaac  Bird's  "  Bible 
Work  in  Bible  Lands,"  and  the  pamphlet  sketches 
of  Rev.  T.  Laurie  and  Rev.  James  S.  Dennis. 

The  specimens  of  poetry  from  ancient  Arabic  po- 
etesses, have  been  gathered  from  printed  and  manu- 
script volumes,  and  from  the  lips  of  the  people. 

Some  accounts  of  child  life  in  Syria  and  specimens 
of  "Oriental  stories  and  nursery  rhymes  'have  been 
gathered  into  a  "  Children's  Chapter."  They  have  a 
value  higher  than  that  which  is  given  by  mere  enter- 
tainment as  they  exhibit  many  phases  of  Arab  home 
life.  The  illustrations  of  the  volume  consist  of  draw- 
ings from  photographs  by  Bergheim  of  Jerusalem 
and  Bonfils  of  Beirut. 


vHi  PREFACE. 

The  pages  of  Arabic  were  electrotyped  in  Beirut 
by  Mr.  Samuel  Hallock,  the  skilful  superintendent!  of 
the  American  Press. 

I  send  out  this  record  of  the  work  carried  on  in 
Syria  with  deep  gratitude  for  all  that  the  Lord  has 
done,  and  with  an  ardent  desire  that  it  may  be  the 
means  of  bringing  this  great  field  more  vividly  before 
the  minds  of  Christian  people,  of  wakening  warmer 
devotion  to  the  missionary  cause,  and  so  of  hastening 
the  time  when  every  Arab  woman  shall  enjoy  the 
honor,  and  be  worthy  of  the  elevation  which  come 
with  faith  in  Him  who  was  first  foretold  as  the  seed 
of  the  woman. 

HENRY  HARRIS  JESSUP. 

BEIRUT,  Syria,  Nov.  28,  1872. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

PACK 

State  of    Women  among  the  Arabs  of  the  Jahiliyeh, 
or  the  "  Times  of  the  Ignorance." I 

CHAPTER  II. 
State  of  Women  in  the  Mohammedan  World 7 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Druze  Religion  and  Druzz  Women    20 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Nusairiyeh 35 

CHAPTER  V. 
Chronicle  of  Women's  Work  from  1820/0  1872 45 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Mrs.  Whit  ing'' s  School 57 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Dr.  De  Foresfs  Work  in  Beirut 73 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Re-opening  of  the  School  in  Beirut . .        97 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FA<;H 

Luciya  Shckkur 114 

CHAPTER  X. 
Raheel 120 

CHAPTER  XL 
Hums 140 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Miriam  the  Aleppine 151 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Modern  Syrian  Views  with  regard  to  Female  Education  158 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Btulawin  Arabs : 180 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Woman  between  Barbarism  and  Civilization 191 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Opinions  of  Protestant  Syrians  with    regard   to  the 
Work  of  American  Women  in  Syria 200 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Other  Labors  for  Womzn  and  Girls  in  this  Field .  ...        204 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Amount  of  Biblical  Instruction  given  in  Mission 
Schools 2Ir 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Children's  Chapter 2^3 


THEJ 

WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

STATE    OF    WOMEN    AMONG     THE     ARABS     OF    THE 
JAHILIYEH,   OR   THE   "TIMES   OF  THE  IG- 
NORANCE." 

T  N  that  eloquent  Sura  of  the  Koran,  called  Ettek- 
wir,  (Ixxxi.)  it  is  said,  "  When  the  girl  buried 
alive  shall  be  asked  for  what  sin  she  was  slain." 
The  passage  no  doubt  refers  to  the  cruel  practice 
which  still  in  Mohammed's  time  lingered  among  the 
tribe  of  Temim,  and  which  was  afterwards  eradicated 
by  the  influence  of  Islam.  The  origin  of  this  prac- 
tice has  been  ascribed  to  the  superstitious  rite  of 
sacrificing  children,  common  in  remote  times  to  all 
the  Semites,  and  observed  by  the  Jews  up  to  the  age 
of  the  Captivity,  as  we  learn  from  the  denunciations 
of  Jeremiah.  But  in  later  times  daughters  were 
buried  alive  as  a  matter  of  household  economy, 
owing  to  the  poverty  of  many  of  the  tribes,  and  to 
their  fear  of  dishonor,  since  women  were  often 


2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

carried  off  by  their  enemies  in  forays,  and  made 
slaves  and  concubines  to  strangers. 

So  that  at  a  wedding,  the  wish  expressed  in  the 
gratulations  to  the  newly-married  pair  was,  "  with 
concord  and  sons,"  or  "  with  concord  and  perma- 
nence ;  with  sons  and  no  daughters."  This  same 
salutation  is  universal  in  Syria  now.  The  chief  wish 
expressed  by  women  to  a  bride  is,  "  may  God  give 
you  an  "  arees,"  i.  e.  a  bridegroom  son. 

In  the  Koran,  Sura  xiv,  Mohammed  argues 
against  the  Arabs  of  Kinaneh,  who  said  that  the 
angels  were  the  daughters  of  God.  "They  (bias 
phemously)  attribute  daughters  to  God  ;  yet  they 
wish  them  not  for  themselves.  When  a  female  child 
is  announced  to  one  of  them,  his  face  grows  dark, 
and  he  is  as  though  he  would  choke." 

The  older  Arab  Proverbs  show  that  the  burying 
alive  of  female  children  was  deemed  praiseworthy. 

"  To  send  women  before  to  the  other  world,  is  a  benefit." 
"  The  best  son-in-law  is  the  grave." 

The  Koran  also  says,  that  certain  men  when 
hearing  of  the  birth  of  a  daughter  hide  themselves 
"  from  the  people  because  of  the  ill-tidings  ;  shall  he 
keep  it  with  disgrace,  or  bury  it  in  the  dust." 
(Sura  xvi.) 

It  is  said  that  the  only  occasion  on  which  Oth- 
man  ever  shed  a  tear,  was  when  his  little  daughter, 
whom  he  was  burying  alive,  wiped  the  dust  of  the 
grave-earth  from  his  beard  ! 

Before  the  Seventh  Century  this  practice  seems 


"  TIMES  OF  THE  IGNORANCE."  3 

to  have  been  gradually  abandoned,  but  was  re- 
tained the  longest  in  the  tribe  of  Temim.  Naman, 
king  of  Hira,  carried  off  among  his  prisoners  in  a 
foray,  the  daughter  of  Kais,  chief  of  Temim,  who 
fell  in  love  with  one  of  her  captors  and  refused  to 
return  to  her  tribe,  whereupon  her  father  swore  to 
bury  alive  all  his  future  female  children,  which  he 
did,  to  the  number  of  ten. 

Subsequent  to  this,  rich  men  would  buy  the  lives 
of  girls  devoted  to  inhumation,  and  Sa  Saah  thus 
rescued  many,  in  one  case  giving  two  milch  camels 
to  buy  the  life  of  a  new-born  girl,  and  he  was  styled 
"  the  Reviver  of  the  Maidens  buried  alive." 

The  following  Arabic  Proverbs  having  reference 
to  women  and  girls  will  illustrate  the  ancient  Arab 
ideas  with  regard  to  their  character  and  position, 
better  than  volumes  of  historic  discourse  : 

"  Obedience  to  women  will  have  to  be  repented  of." 

"  A  man  can  bear  anything  but  the  mention  of  his  women." 

"  The  heart  of  woman  is  given  to  folly." 

"  Leave  not  a  girl  nor  a  green  pasture  unguarded." 

"  What  has  a  girl  to  do  with  the  councils  of  a  nation  ?  " 

"  If  you  would  marry  a  beauty,  pay  her  dowry." 

"  Fear  not  to  praise  the  man  whose  wives  are  true  to  him." 

"  Woman  fattens  on  what  she  hears."  (flattery) 

"  Women  are  the  whips  of  Satan." 

"If  you  would   marry   a   girl,  inquire   about   the   traits   of  her 

mother." 

"  Trust  neither  a  king,  a  horse,  nor  a  woman.     For  the  king  is 

fastidious,  the  horse  prone  to  run  away,  and  the  woman  is  perfidious." 
"  My  father  does  the  fighting,  and  my  mother  the  talking  about 

it." 

"  Our  mother  forbids  us  to  err  and  runs  into  error." 
"  Alas  for  the  people  who  are  ruled  by  a  woman  ! " 


4  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  position  of  woman  among  the  Arabs  before 
the  times  of  Mohammed  can  be  easily  inferred  from 
what  has  preceded.  But  there  is  another  side  to 
the  picture.  Although  despised  and  abused,  woman 
often  asserted  her  dignity  and  maintained  her  rights, 
not  only  by  physical  force,  but  by  intellectual  supe- 
riority as  well.  The  poetesses  of  the  Arabs  are 
numerous,  and  some  of  them  hold  a  high  rank. 
Their  poetry  was  impromptu,  impassioned,  and 
chiefly  of  the  elegiac  and  erotic  type.  The  faculty 
of  improvisation  was  cultivated  even  by  the  most 
barbarous  tribes,  and  although  such  of  their  poetry 
as  has  been  preserved  is  mostly  a  kind  of  rhymed 
prose,  it  often  contains  striking  and  beautiful 
thoughts.  They  called  improvised  poetry  "  the 
daughter  of  the  hour." 

The  queen  of  Arabic  poetesses  is  El  Khunsa, 
who  flourished  in  the  days  of  Mohammed.  Elegies 
on  her  two  warrior  brothers  Sakhr  and  Mu'awiyeh 
are  among  the  gems  of  ancient  Arabic  poetry.  She 
was  not  what  would  be  called  in  modern  times  a 
refined  or  delicate  lady,  being  regarded  as  proud 
and  masculine  in  temper  even  by  the  Arabs  of  her 
own  age.  In  the  eighth  year  of  the  Hegira,  her  son 
Abbas  brought  a  thousand  warriors  to  join  the 
forces  of  the  Prophet.  She  came  with  him  and  re- 
cited her  poetry  to  Mohammed.  She  lamented  her 
brother  for  years.  She  sang  of  Sakhr  : 

"  His  goodness  is  known  by  his  brotherly  face, 
Thrice  blessed  such  sign  of  a  heavenly  grace  : 


"  TIMES  OF  THE  IGNORANCE."  5 

You  would  think  from  his  aspect  of  meekness  and  shame, 
That  his  anger  was  stirred  at  the  thought  of  his  fame. 
Oh  rare  virtue  and  beautiful,  natural  trait, 
Which  never  will  change  by  the  change  of  estate  ! 
When  clad  in  his  armor  and  prepared  for  the  fray, 
The  army  rejoiceth  and  winneth  the  day  !" 

Again,  she  lamented  him  as  follows : 

"  Each  glorious  rising  sun  brings  Sakhr  to  my  mind, 
I  think  anew  of  him  when  sets  the  orb  of  day  ; 
And  had  I  not  beheld  the  grief  and  sorrow  blind 
Of  many  mourning  ones  o'er  brothers  snatched  away, 
I  should  have  slain  myself,  from  deep  and  dark  despair." 

The  poet  Nabighah  erected  for  her  a  red  leather 
tent  at  the  fair  of  Okaz,  in  token  of  honor,  and  in 
the  contest  of  poetry  gave  her  the  highest  place 
above  all  but  Maymun,  saying  to  her,  "  If  I  had  not 
heard  him,  I  would  say  that  thou  didst  surpass 
every  one  in  poetry.  I  confess  that  you  surpass  all 
women."  To  which  she  haughtily  replied,  "  Not 
the  less  do  I  surpass  all  men." 

The  following  are  among  the  famous  lines  of  El 
Khunsa,  which  gave  her  the  title  of  princess  of  Arab 
poetesses.  The  translation  I  have  made  quite  lit- 
eral. 

"  Ah  time  has  its  wonders ;  its  changes  amaze  ; 

It  leaves  us  the  tail  while  the  head  it  slays  ; 

It  leaves  us  the  low  while  the  highest  decays  ; 

It  leaves  the  obscure,  the  despised,  and  the  slave, 

But  of  honored  and  loved  ones,  the  true  and  the  brave, 

It  leaves  us  to  mourn  o'er  the  untimely  grave. 

The  two  new  creations,  the  day  and  the  night, 

Though  ceaselessly  changing,  are  pure  as  the  light : 

But  man  changes  to  error,  corruption  and  blight." 


6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  most  ancient  Arab  poetess.  Zarifeh,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  lived  as  long  ago  as  the  Second  Cen- 
tury, in  the  time  of  the  bursting  of  the  famous  dyke 
of  Mareb,  which  devastated  the  land  of  Saba. 
Another  poetess,  Rakdsh,  sister  of  the  king  of  Hira, 
was  given  in  marriage,  by  the  king  when  intoxicated, 
to  a  man  named  Adi. 

Alas,  in  these  days  the  Moslem  Arabs  do  not 
wait  until  blinded  by  wine,  to  give  their  daughters 
in  marriage  to  strangers.  I  once  overheard  two 
Moslem  young  men  conversing  in  a  shop,  one  of 
whom  was  about  to  be  married.  His  companion 
said  to  him,  "  have  you  heard  anything  about  the 
looks  of  your  betrothed?''  "Not  much,"  said  he, 
"  only  I  am  assured  that  she  is  white." 

In  a  book  written  by  Mirai  ibn  Yusef  el  Hanbali, 
are  the  names  of  twenty  Arab  women  who  impro- 
vised poetry.  Among  them  are  Leila,  Leila  el 
Akhyaliyeh,  Lubna,  Zeinab,  Afra,  Hind,  May,  Jenub, 
Hubaish,  Zarifeh,  Jemileh,  Remleh,  Lotifeh,  and 
others.  Most  of  the  verses  ascribed  to  them  are 
erotic  poetry  of  an  amatory  character,  full  of  the 
most  extravagant  expressions  of  devotion  of  which 
language  is  capable,  and  yet  the  greater  part  of  it 
hardly  bearing  translation.  It  reminds  one  strikingly 
of  Solomon's  Song,  full  of  passionate  eloquence. 
And  yet  in  the  poetry  of  El  Khunsa  and  others, 
which  is  of  an  elegiac  character,  there  are  passages 
full  of  sententious  apothegms  and  proverbial  wis- 
dom. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STATE   OF  WOMEN   IN  THE   MOHAMMADAN  WORLD. 

/^\UR  knowledge  of  the  position  of  women  among 
^^  the  Mohammedans  is  derived  from  the  Koran, 
Moslem  tradition,  and  Moslem  practice. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  the  Koran  does  not  teach 
that  women  have  no  souls.  Not  only  was  Mo- 
hammed  too  deeply  indebted  to  his  rich  wife 
Khadijah,  to  venture  such  an  assertion,  but  he  ac- 
tually teaches  in  the  Koran  the  immortality  and 
moral  responsibility  of  women.  One  of  his  wives 
having  complained  to  him  that  God  often  praised 
the  men,  but  not  the  women  who  had  fled  the 
country  for  the  faith,  he  immediately  produced  the 
following  FevelationT~ 

"  I  will  not  suffer  the  work  of  him  among  you  who  worketh  to  be 
lost,  whether  he  be  male  or  female."     (Sura  iii.) 

In  Sura  iv.  it  is  said : 

"  Whoso  doeth  good  works,  and  is  a  true  believer,  whether  male 
or  female,  shall  be  admitted  into  Paradise." 

In  Sura  xxxiii  : 

"  Truly,  the  Muslemen  and  the  Muslimate,  (fern.) 
The  believing  men  and  the  believing  women, 
The  devout  men  and  the  devout  women, 


g  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  men  of  truth  and  the  women  of  truth, 
The  patient  men  and  the  patient  women, 
The  humble  men  and  the  humble  women, 
The  charitable  men  and  the  charitable  women, 
The  fasting  men  and  the  fasting  women, 
The  chaste  men  and  the  chaste  women,     • 
And  the  men  and  women  who  oft  remember  God ; 
For  them  hath  God  prepared 
Forgiveness  and  a  rich  recompense." 

II.  Thus  Mohammedans  cannot  and  do  not  deny 
that  women  have  souls,  but  their  brutal  treatment 
of  women  has  naturally  led  to  this  view.  The  Caliph 
Omar  said  that  "women  are  worthless  creatures  and 
soil  men's  reputations."  In  Sura  iv.  it  is  written  : 

"  Men  are  superior  to  women,  on  account  of  the  qualities 
With  which  God  has  gifted  the  one  above  the  other, 
And  on  account  of  the  outlay  they  make,  from  their  substance 
for  them. 

Virtuous  women  are  obedient 

But  chide  those  for  whose  refractoriness 

Ye  have  cause  to  fear and  scourge  them" 

The  interpretation  of  this  last  injunction  being 
left  to  the  individual  believer,  it  is  carried  out  with 
terrible  severity.  The  scourging  and  beating  of 
wives  is  one  of  the  worst  features  of  Moslem  domes- 
tic life.  It  is  a  degraded  and  degrading  practice, 
and  having  the  sanction  of  the  Koran,  will  be  in- 
dulged in  without  rebuke  as  long  as  Islamism  as  a 
system  and  a  faith  prevails  in  the  world.  Happily 
for  the  poor  women,  the  husbands  do  not  generally 
beat  them  so  as  to  imperil  their  lives,  in  case  their 
own  relatives  reside  in  the  vicinity,  lest  the  excru- 


STATE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN.  g 

elating  screams  of  the  suffering  should  reach  the 
ears  of  her  parents  and  bring  the  husband  into  dis- 
grace. But  where  there  is  no  fear  of  interference 
or  of  discovery,  the  blows  and  kicks  are  applied  in 
the  most  merciless  and  barbarous  manner.  Women 
are  killed  in  this  way,  and  no  outsider  knows  the 
cause.  One  of  my  Moslem  neighbors  once  beat  one 
of  his  wives  to  death.  I  heard  her  screams  day  after 
day,  and  finally,  one  night,  when  all  was  still,  I  heard 
a  dreadful  shriek,  and  blow  after  blow  falling  upon 
her  back  and  head.  I  could  hear  the  brute  cursing 
her  as  he  beat  her.  The  police  would  not  interfere, 
and  I  could  not  enter  the  house.  The  next  day 
there  was  a  funeral  from  that  house,  and  she  was 
carried  off  and  buried  in  the  most  hasty  and  unfeel- 
ing manner.  Sometimes  it  happens  that  the  woman 
is  strong  enough  to  defend  herself,  and  conquers  a 
peace ;  but  ordinarily  when  you  hear  a  scream  in 
the  Moslem  quarter  of  the  city  and  ask  the  reason, 
it  will  be  said  to  you  with  an  indifferent  shrug  of 
the  shoulder,  "  that  is  only  some  man  beating  his 
wife." 

That  thirty-eighth  verse  of  Sura  iv.  is  one  of  the 
many  proofs  that  the  Koran  Is  not  the  book  of  God, 
because  it  violates  the  law  of  love.  "  Husbands 
love  your  wives,"  is  a  precept  of  the  Gospel  and  not 
of  the  Koran.  Yet  it  is  a  sad  fact  that  the  nominal 
Christians  of  this  dark  land  are  not  much  better  in 
this  respect  than  their  Moslem  neighbors.  The 
Greeks,  Maronites  and  Papal  Greeks  beat  their 
wives  on  the  slightest  provocation.  In  the  more 


Io        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

enlightened  towns  and  cities  this  custom  is  "  going 
out  of  fashion,"  though  still  often  resorted  to  in  fits 
of  passion.  Sometimes  the  male  relatives  of  the 
wife  retaliate  in  case  a  husband  beats  her.  In  the 
village  of  Schwire,  in  Lebanon,  a  man  beat  his  wife 
in  a  brutal  manner  and  she  fled  to  the  house  of  her 
brother.  The  brother  watched  his  opportunity; 
waylaid  the  offending  husband,  and  avenged  his 
sister's  injuries  by  giving  him  a  severe  flogging.  In 
Eastern  Turkey,  a  missionary  in  one  of  the  towns 
noticed  that  not  one  woman  attended  church  on 
Sunday.  He  expostulated  with  the  Protestants, 
and  urged  them  to  persuade  their  wives  to  accom- 
pany them.  The  next  Sunday  the  women  were  all 
present,  as  meek  and  quiet  as  could  be  wished.  The 
missionary  was  delighted,  and  asked  one  of  the  men 
how  they  persuaded  them  to  come  ?  He  replied, 
"  We  all  beat  our  wives  soundly  until  they  consented 
to  come!"  This  wife-beating  custom  has  evidently 
been  borrowed  by  the  Christian  sects  from  their 
Moslem  rulers  and  oppressors,  and  nothing  but  a 
pure  Christianity  can  induce  them  to  abandon  it. 

III.  Some  have  supposed  that  there  will  be  no 
place  in  the  Moslem  Paradise  for  women,  as  their 
place  will  be  taken  by  the  seventy-two  bright-eyed 
Houris  or  damsels  of  Paradise.  Mohammed  once 
said  that  when  he  took  a  view  of  Paradise  he  saw 
the  majority  of  its  inhabitants  to  be  the  poor,  and 
when  he  looked  down  into  hell,  he  saw  the  greater 
part  of  the  wretches  confined  there  to  be  women! 
Yet  he  positively  promised  his  followers  that  the 


STA  TE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN.  \  \ 

very  meanest  in  Paradise  will  have  eighty  thousand 
servants,  seventy-two  wives  of  the  Houris,  besides 
the  wives  he  had  in  this  world.  The  promises  of  the 
Houris  are  almost  exclusively  to  be  found  in  Suras, 
written  at  a  time  when  Mohammed  had  only  a  single 
wife  of  sixty  years  of  age,  and  in  all  the  ten  years 
subsequent  to  the  Hegira,  women  are  only  twice 
mentioned  as  the  reward  of  the  faithful.  And  this, 
while  in  four  Suras,  the  proper  wives  of  the  faithful 
are  spoken  of  as  accompanying  their  husbands  into 
the  gardens  of  bliss. 

"  They  and  their  wives  on  that  day 

Shall  rest  in  shady  groves."    (Sura  36.) 

"  Enter  ye  and  your  wives  into  Paradise  delighted."     (Sura  43.) 
"  Gardens  of  Eden  into  which  they  shall  enter 

Together  with  the  just  of  their  fathers,  and  their  wives."  (Sura 
I3-) 

An  old  woman  once  desired  Mohammed  to  in- 
tercede with  God  that  she  might  be  admitted  to 
Paradise,  and  he  told  her  that  no  old  woman  would 
enter  that  place.  She  burst  into  loud  weeping, 
when  he  explained  himself  by  saying  that  God 
would  then  make  her  young  again. 

I  was  once  a  fellow-passenger  in  the  Damascus 
diligence,  with  a  Mohammedan  pilgrim  going  to 
Mecca  by  way  of  Beirut  and  Egypt,  in  company 
with  his  wife.  I  asked  him  whether  his  wife  would 
have  any  place  in  Paradise  when  he  received  his 
quota  of  seventy-two  Houris.  "  Yes,"  said  he,  look- 
ing towards  his  wife,  whose  veil  prevented  our  seeing 
her,  although  she  could  see  us,  "  if  she  obeys  me  in 


12  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

all  respects,  and  is  a  faithful  wife,  and  goes  to  Mecca, 
she  will  be  made  more  beautiful  than  all  the  Houris 
of  Paradise."  Paradise  is  thus  held  up  to  the 
women  as  the  reward  of  obedience  to  their  hus- 
bands, and  this  is  about  the  sum  and  substance  of 
what  the  majority  of  Moslem  women  know  about 
religion. 

Women  are  never  admitted  to  pray  with  men  in 
public,  being  obliged  to  perform  their  devotions  at 
home,  or  if  they  visit  the  Mosques,  it  must  be  at  a 
time  when  the  men  are  not  there,  for  the  Moslems 
are  of  opinion  that  the  presence  of  women  inspires 
a  different  kind  of  devotion  from  that  which  is 
desirable  in  'a  place  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Moslem'  idea  of  woman  is  vile  and  degraded. 
A  Moslem  absent  from  home  never  addresses  a  letter 
to  his  wife,  but  to  his  son  or  brother,  or  some  male 
relative.  It  is  considered  a  grievous  insult  to  ask  a 
Moslem  about  the  health  of  his  wife.  If  obliged  to 
allude  to  a  woman  in  conversation,  you  must  use 
the  word  "  ajellak  Allah,"  "  May  God  elevate  you" 
above  the  contamination  of  this  subject !  You 
would  be  expected  to  use  the  same  expression  in 
referring  to  a  donkey,  a  dog,  a  shoe,  a  swine  or  any- 
thing vile.  It  is  somewhat  like  the  Irish  expression, 
"  Saving  your  presence,  sir/'  when  alluding  to  an 
unpleasant  subject. 

A  Greek  Christian  (?)  in  Tripoli  came  to  an 
American  Missionary  physician 'and  said,  "  there  is 
a  woman,  '  ajell  shanak  Allah  '  here  who  is  ill.  I 
beg  your  pardon  for  mentioning  so  vile  a  subject  to 


STATE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN.  i$ 

your  excellency.''  Said  the  doctor,  "  and  who  may 
it  be  ?  "  "  Ajellak,  it  is  my  wife  !  " 

I  remember  once  meeting  the  Mohammedan 
Mufti  of  Beirut  in  Dr.  Van  Dyck's  study  at  the 
printing  press.  The  Mufti's  wife,  (at  least  one  of 
them,)  was  ill,  and  he  wished  medical  advice,  but 
could  not  insult  the  Doctor  by  alluding  to  a  woman 
in  his  presence.  So  he  commenced,  after  innumera- 
ble salutations,  repeating  good-morning,  and  may 
your  day  be  happy,  until  he  could  decently  proceed 
to  business.  "  Your  excellency  must  be  aware  that 
I  have  a  sick  man  at  my  house*.  May  God  grant 
you  health  !  Indeed,  peace  to  your  head.  Inshullah, 
it  is  only  a  slight  attack!"  "He  has  pain  in  his 
back,  headache,  and  he  will  not  eat."  "  Has  he  any 
fever  ?  "  "  A  little."  "  I  will  come  and  see  her  this 
afternoon."  "  May  God  increase  your  good.  Good 
morning,  sir  !  " 

The  Mohammedan  laws  with  regard  to  polygamy, 
inheritance  and  divorce,  are  a  decided  advance  on 
the  Pagan  Arabs  of  "  the  Ignorance." 

The  Pagan  Arabs  allowed  any  number  of  wives. 
The  Koran  allows  only  four  to  any  believer,  the 
prophet  himself  having  peculiar  privileges  in  this 
respect.  The  modern  practice  of  Mohammedans  in 
taking  a  score  or  more  of  wives  is  directly  contrary 
to  the  Koran.  The  Pagan  Arabs  suffered  no  woman 
to  have  any  part  of  the  husband's  or  father's  inheri- 
tance, on  the  ground  that  none  should  inherit  who 
could  not  go  to  war,  and  the  widows  were  disposed 
of  as  a  part  of  their  husband's  possessions.  The 


!4  THE   WdMEN  Of  THE  ARABS. 

Koran  says,  (Sura  iv.)  "  Women  ought  to  have  a 
part  of  what  their  parents  leave."  A  male  shall 
have  twice  as  much  as  a  female.  But  a  man's 
parents,  and  also  his  brothers  and  sisters  are  to  have 
equal  shares,  without  reference  to  sex.  "  God  com- 
mandeth  you  to  give  the  male  the  portion  of  two 
females.  If  she  be  an  only  daughter,  she  shall  have 
the  half.  Your  wives  shall  have  a  fourth  part  of 
what  ye  leave,  if  ye  have  no  issue." 

Among  the  Pagan  Arabs,  divorce  was  a  mere 
matter  of  caprice.  The  Koran  says,  (Sura  ii.)  "  You 
may  divorce  your  wives  twice  (and  take  them  back 
again).  But  if  the  husband  divorce  her  a  third  time, 
it  is  not  lawful  for  him  to  take  her  again,  until  she 
shall  have  been  actually  married  to  another  husband, 
and  then  divorced  by  him."  I  have  known  cases 
where  the  husband  in  a  fit  of  passion  has  divorced 
his  wife  the  third  time,  and,  in  order  to  get  her  back 
again,  has  hired  another  man  to  marry  her  and  then 
divorce  her.  A  rich"  Effendi  had  divorced  his  wife 
the  third  time,  and  wishing  to  remarry  her,  hired  a 
poor  man  to  marry  her  for  a  consideration  of  seven 
hundred  piastres.  He  took  the  wife  and  the  money, 
and  the  next  day  refused  to  give  her  up  for  less  than 
five  thousand  piastres,  which  the  Effendi  was  obliged 
to  pay,  as  the  woman  had  become  the  lawful  and 
wedded  wife  of  the  poor  man. 

No  Mohammedan  ever  walks  with  his  wife  in  the 
street,  and  in  Moslem  cities,  very  few  if  any  of  men 
of  other  sects  are  willing  to  be  seen  in  public  in  com- 
pany with  a  woman.  The  women  are  closely  veiled, 


STATE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN.  15 

and  if  a  man  and  his  wife  have  occasion  to  go  any- 
where together,  he  walks  in  advance  and  she  walks 
a  long  distance  behind  him.  Nofel  Effendi,  one  of 
the  most  learned  and  intelligent  Protestants  in  Syria, 
once  gave  me  the  explanation  of  this  aversion  to 
walking  in  public  with  women,  in  a  more  satisfactory 
manner  than  I  had  ever  heard  it  before.  Said  he, 
"  You  Franks  can  walk  with  your  wives  in  public, 
because  their  faces  are  unveiled,  and  it  is  known  that 
they  are  your  wives,  but  our  women  are  so  closely 
veiled  that  if  I  should  walk  with  my  wife  in  the  street, 
no  one  would  know  whether  I  was  walking  with  my 
own  wife  or  another  man's  !  You  cannot  expect  a 
respectable  man  to  put  himself  into  such  an  embar- 
rassing position ! ''  No  Moslem  woman  or  girl 
would  dare  go  into  the  street  without  a  veil,  for  fear 
of  personal  chastisement  from  the  husband  and 
father,  and  the  Greek,  Maronite  and  other  nominal 
Christian  women  in  Syria  shrink  from  exposing- 
tfieir  faces,  through  fear  of  insult  from  the  Moham- 
medans. 

When  European  women,  either  residents  or  trav- 
ellers, pass  through  the  Moslem  quarter  of  these 
cities  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  with  faces  unveiled, 
they  are  made  the  theme  of  the  most  outrageous 
and  insulting  comments  by  the  Moslem  populace. 
Well  is  it  for  the  feelings  of  the  most  of  these  worthy 
Christian  women,  that  they  do  not  understand  the 
Arabic  language.  The  Turkish  governor  of  Tripoli 
was  obliged  to  suppress  the  insulting  epithets  of  the 
Moslems  towards  European  ladies  when  they  first 


!6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

began  to  reside  there,  by  the  infliction  of  the  basti- 
nado. 

In  1857,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lyons  in  Tripoli,  hired 
Sheikh  Ovvad,  a  Moslem  bigot,  to  teach  him  the 
Arabic  grammar.  He  was  a  conceited  boor;  well 
versed  in  Arabic  grammar,  but  more  ignorant  of 
geography,  arithmetic  and  good  breeding  than  a 
child.  One  day  Mrs.  Lyons  passed  through  the  room 
where  he  was  teaching  Mr.  L.  and  he  turned  his 
head  away  from  her  and  spat  towards  her  with  a 
look  of  unutterable  contempt.  It  was  the  last  time 
he  did  it,  and  he  has  now  become  so  civilized  that  he 
can  say  good  morning  to  the  wife  of  a  missionary, 
and  even  consent  to  teach  the  sacred,  pure  and  un- 
defiled  Arabic  to  a  woman  !  I  believe  that  he  has 
not  yet  given  his  assent  to  the  fact  that  the  earth 
revolves  on  its  axis,  but  he  has  learned  that  there 
are  women  in  the  world  who  know  more  than  Sheikh 
Owad. 

In  ancient  times  Moslem  women  were  occasionally 
taught  to  read  the  Koran,  and  among  the  wealthier 
and  more  aristocratic  classes,  married  women  are 
now  sometimes  taught  to  read,  but  the  mass  of  the 
Moslem  men  are  bitterly  opposed  to  the  instruction 
of  women.  When  a  man  decides  to  have  his  wife 
taught  to  read,  the  usual  plan  is  to  hire  a  blind  Mo- 
hammedan Sheikh,  who  knows  the  Koran  by  heart. 
He  sits  at  one  side  of  the  room,  and  shft  at  the  other, 
some  elderly  woman,  either  her  mother  or  her 
mother-in-law,  being  present.  The  blind  Sheikhs 
have  remarkable  memories. and  sharp  ears,  and  can 


STATE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN.  \j 

detect  the  slightest  error  in  pronunciation  or  render- 
ing, so  they  are  employed  in  the  most  of  the  Moslem- 
schools.  The  mass  of  the  Mohammedans  are  ner- 
vously afraid  of  entrusting  the  knowledge  of  reading 
and  writing  to  their  wives  and  daughters,  lest  they 
abuse  it  by  writing  clandestine  letters  to  improper 
persons.  "  Teach  a  girl  to  read  and  write  !  "  said  a 
Mohammedan  Mufti  in  Tripoli  to  me,  "  Why,  she 
will  write  letters,  sir, — yes,  actually  write  letters  !  the 
thing  is  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a  moment."  I  re- 
plied, "  Effendum,  you  put  your  foot  on  the  women's 
necks  and  then  blame  them  for  not  rising.  Educate 
your  girls  and  train  them  to  intelligence  and  virtue, 
and  then  their  pens  will  write  only  what  ought  to  be 
written.  Train  the  hand  to  hold  a  pen,  without 
training  the  mind  to  direct  it,  and  only  mischief  can 
result."  "  Sa/zea/i,  saheah^  "  very  true,  very  true," 
said  he,  "  But  how  can  this  be  done  ?  " 

It  has  begun  to  be  done  in  Syria.  From  the 
days  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Smith  to  the  present  time, 
Moslem  girls  have  been  taught  to  read  and  write  and 
sew,  and  there  are  many  now  learning  in  the  various 
American,  British  and  Prussian  schools.  But  it 
will  be  long  before  any  true  idea  of  the  dignity  of 
woman  enters  the  debased  minds  of  Arab  Moham- 
medans. The  simple  fact  is  that  there  is  no  moral 
purity  or  elevation  among  the  men,  and  how  can  it 
be  expected  among  the  women.  The  Moslem  idea 
of  woman  is  infinitely  lower  than  the  old  Jewish  idea. 
Woman  in  the  time  of  Christ  was  highly  honored. 
Believing  women  followed  Christ  throughout  Galilee 


1 8  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  Judea,  and  although  enemies  stood  watching 
with  hateful  gaze  on  every  side,  not  one  word  of  in- 
sinuation was  ever  lisped  against  them.  It  is  a  most 
sadly  impressive  fact  to  one  living  in  Syria  at  the 
present  day,  that  the  liberty  and  respect  allowed  to 
woman  in  the  days  of  our  Saviour  would  now  be  ab- 
solutely impossible.  In  purely  Greek  or  Maronite  or 
Armenian  villages,  the  women  enjoy  far  greater  lib- 
erty, than  where  there  is  a  Moslem  element  in  the 
population.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  and  grateful 
recognition,  that  although  Christianity  in  the  East 
has  sunk  almost  to  a  level,  in  outward  morality,  with 
the  Islamic  and  semi-Pagan  sects,  there  is  a  striking 
difference  between  the  lowest  nominal  Christian  com- 
munity and  the  highest  Mohammedan,  in  the  respect 
paid  to  woman.  Ignorant  and  oppressed  as  the 
Greek  and  Maronite  women  may  -be,  you  feel  on  en- 
tering their  houses,  that  the  degrading  yoke  of  Mos- 
lem brutality  is  not  on  their  necks.  Their  husbands 
may  be  coarse,  ignorant  and  brutal,  beating  their 
wives  and  despising  their  daughters,  mourning  at  the 
birth  of  a  daughter,  and  marrying  her  without  her 
consent,  and  yet  there  are  lower  depths  of  coarseness 
and  brutality,  of  cruelty  and  bestiality,  which  are  only 
found  among  Mohammedans.  I  once  suggested  to  a 
Tripoli  Moslem,  that  he  send  his  daughters  to  our 
Girls'  School,  then  taught  by  Miss  Sada  Gregory,  a 
native  teacher  trained  in  the  family  of  Mrs.  Whiting, 
and  he  looked  at  me  with  an  expression  of  mingled 
pity  and  contempt,  saying,  "Educate  a  girl!  You 
might  as  well  attempt  to  educate  a  cat !  " 


STATE  OF  MOHAMMEDAN  WOMEN. 


I9 


Not  two  months  since,  I  was  conversing  with  sev- 
eral of  the  aristocratic  Mohammedans  of  Beirut,  who 
were  in  attendance  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Beirut  Protestant  Medical  College.  The  subject  of 
the  education  of  girls  was  introduced,  and  one  of 
them  said,  "  we  are  beginning  to  have  our  girls  in- 
structed in  your  Protestant  schools,  and  would  you 
believe  it,  I  heard  one  of  them  read  the  other  day, 
(probably  his  own  daughter,)  and  she  actually  asked 
a  question  about  the  construction  of  a  noun  preceded 
by  a  preposition  !  I  never  heard  the  like  of  it.  The 
things  do  distinguish  and  understand  what  they  read, 
after  all !  "  The  others  replied,  "  Mashallah  !  Mash- 
allah  !  "  "  The  will  of  God  be  done !  " 

Some  ten  years  ago,  an  influential  Moslem  Sheikh 
in  Beirut,  who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Araman, 
the  husband  of  Lulu,  brought  his  daughter  Wah'idy 
(only  one)  to  the  Seminary  to  be  instructed,  on  con- 
dition that  no  man  should  ever  see  her  face.  As  Mr. 
Araman  himself  was  one  of 'the  teachers,  and  I  was 
accustomed  to  make  constant  visits  to  the  school,  she 
was  obliged  to  wear  a  light  veil,  which  she  drew  adroit- 
ly over  her  face  whenever  the  door  was  opened.  This 
went  on  for  months  and  years,  until  at  length  in  re- 
citation she  would  draw  the  veil  aside.  Then  she 
used  to  listen  to  public  addresses  in  the  school  with- 
out her  veil,  and  finally,  in  June,  1867,  she  read  a 
composition  on  the  stage  at  the  Public  Examination, 
on,  "  The  value  of  education  to  the  women  and  girls 
of  Syria,"  her  father,  Sheikh  Said  el  Ghur,  being  pres- 
ent, with  a  number  of  his  Moslem  friends. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  DRUZE  RELIGION  AND  DRUZE  WOMEN. 

'T^HE  great  expounder  and  defender  of  the  Druze 
religion  is  Hamze,  the  "Universal  Intelli- 
gence," the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
and  the  medium  of  the  creation  of  all  things.  This 
Hamze  was  a  shrewd,  able  and  unprincipled  man. 
In  his  writings  he  not  only  defends  the  abominations 
of  Hakem,  but  lays  down  the  complete  code  of 
Druze  doctrine  and  duty. 

It  is  the  belief  of  many,  and  said  to  be  the  ortho- 
dox view  among  the  Druzes  that  their  system  as 
such  is  to  last  exactly  900  lunar  years.  The  date 
of  the  Druze  era  is  408  Hegira,  or  1020  A.  D.  The 
present  year,  1872,  corresponds  to  the  year  1289 
Anno  Hegira,  so  that  in  nineteen  lunar  years  the 
system  will  begin  to  come  to  an  end  according  to  its 
own  reckoning,  and  after  1000  years  it  will  cease  to 
exist.  Others  have  fixed  this  present  year  as  the 
year  of  the  great  cataclysm,  but  the  interpreters  are 
so  secret  and  reserved  in  their  statements,  that  it  is 
only  by  casual  remarks  that  we  can  arrive  at  any 
idea  of  their  real  belief.  Lying  to  infidels  is  such  a 
meritorious  act,  that  you  cannot  depend  'on  one 
word  they  say  of  themselves  or  their  doctrines. 


THE  DRUZE  RELIGION  AND  DRUZE   WOMEN.     21 

Their  secret  books,  which  were  found  in  the  civil 
wars  of  1841  and  1845,  have  been  translated  and 
published  by  De  Sacy,  and  we  have  a  number  of 
them  in  the  original  Arabic  manuscripts  in  the  Mis- 
sion Library  in  Beirut.  From  a  chapter  in  one  of 
these,  entitled  "  Methak  en  Nissa,"  or  the  "  En- 
gagements of  Women,"  I  have  translated  the  follow- 
ing passages,  to  show  the  religious  position  of 
women,  as  bearing  upon  my  object  in  describing 
the  condition  of  Syrian  females. 

"  Believers  are  both  male  and  female.  By  in- 
struction women  pass  from  ignorance  to  knowl- 
edge, and  become  angels  like  the  Five  Ministers 
who  bear  the  Throne :  i.  e.,  the  Doctrine  of  the 
'Unity.  All  male  and  female  believers  ought  to  be 
free  from  all  impurity  and  disgrace  and  dishonor. 
Believing  women  should  shun  lying  (to  the  breth- 
ren) and  infidelity  and  concupiscence,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  evil,  and  show  the  excellency  of  their 
work  above  all  Trinitarian  women,  avoiding  all  sus- 
picion and  taint  which  might  bring  ill  upon  their 
brethren,  and  avoiding  giving  attention  to  what  is 
contrary  to  the  Divine  Unity. 

"  We  have  written  this  epistle  to  be  read  to  all 
believing  women  who  hold  to  the  Unity  of  Hakem, 
who  knows  His  Eternity  and  obey  their  husbands. 
But  let  no  Dai  or  Mazftn  read  it  to  a  woman  untit  he 
is  well  assured  of  her  faith  and  her  religion,  and  she 
shall  have  made  a  written  profession  of  her  faith. 
He  shall  not  read  it  to  one  woman  alone,  nor  in  a 
house  where  there  is  but  one  woman,  even  though 


22  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

he  be  worthy  of  all  confidence,  lest  suspicion  be 
awakened  and  the  tongue  of  slander  be  loosed.  Let 
there  be  assembled  together  at  least  three  women, 
and  let  them  sit  behind  a  curtain  or  screen,  so  as  not 
to  be  seen.  Each  woman  must  be  accompanied  by 
her  husband,  or  her  father,  or  brother  or  son,  if  he 
be  a  Unitarian.  The  Dai  in  reading  m.ust  keep  his 
eyes  fixed  on  his  book,  neither  turning  towards  the 
place  where  the  women  are,  nor  casting  a  glance 
towards  it,  nor  listening  to  them.  The  woman,  more- 
over, must  not  speak  a  word  during  the  reading,  and 
whether  she  is  affected  by  a  transport  of  joy,  or 
moved  by  an  impression  of  respect  and  fear,  she 
must  carefully  abstain  from  showing  her  feelings 
either  by  smiles  or  tears.  For  the  smiles,  the  tears, 
and  the  words  of  a  woman  may  excite  man's  pas- 
sions. Let  her  give  her  whole  attention  to  the  read- 
ing, receive  it  in  her  heart,  and  apply  all  the  facul- 
ties of  her  mind  to  understand  its  meaning,  in  order 
clearly  to  conceive  the  true  signification  of  what  she 
is  listening  to.  If  she  finds  any  passage  obscure,  let 
her  ask  the  Dai,  (the  preacher,)  and  he  shall  answer, 
if  he  can,  and  if  not,  promise  to  ask  those  who  are 
more  learned,  and  when  he  has  obtained  the  solution 
he  must  inform  her,  if  she  be  deemed  worthy. 

"  The  highest  duty  of  Unitarian-  women  is  to 
kncftv  our  Moulah  Hakem  and  the  Kaim  Hamze. 
If  they  follow  Him,  let  them  know  that  He  has  re- 
leased them  entirely  from  the  observance  of  the 
Seven  Arbitrary  Pillars  of  the  Law  (of  Islam)  which 
are  (i)  Prayer,  (2)  Fasting  (3)  Pilgrimage,  (4)  Assert- 


THE  DRUZE  RELIGION  AND  DRUZE   WOMEN.     23 

ing,  There  is  no  God  but  God  and  Mohammed  is 
the  Prophet  of  God,  (5)  Giving  tithes,  (6)  War  on 
infidels,  (7)  Submission  to  authority.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  all  believing  women  must  perform  the 
Seven  Religious  Duties  :  The  First  and  greatest  is 
Truth  in  your  words  :  (i.e  to  the  brethren  and  sisters) 
the  Second  is,  To  watch  reciprocally  over  the  safety 
of  the  brethren ;  the  Third  is,  to  renounce  wholly 
and  entirely  whatever  religion  you  may  have  pre- 
viously professed  ;  the  Fourth  is,  To  keep  yourselves 
apart,  clear  ajid  distinct  from  all  who  are  in  error  ; 
the  Fifth  is,  To  recognize  the  existence  of  the  Unity 
of  our  Lord  in  all  ages,  times  and  epochs  ;  the  Sixth 
is,  To  be  satisfied  with  His  will  and  His  works,  what- 
ever they  may  be  ;  The  Seventh  is,  To  abandon  and 
resign  yourselves  to  all  His  orders  whether  in  pros- 
perity or  adversity.  You  must  keep  these  Seven 
Commandments,  and  keep  them  strictly  seciet  from 
all  who  are  of  a  different  religion.  If  the  Druze 
women  do  all  this  and  fulfil  their  duties,  they  are 
indeed  among  the  good,  and  shall  have  their  reward 
among  the  159  Angefe  of  the  Presence  and  among 
the  Prophets  who  were  Apostles,  and  be  saved  from 
the  snare  of  the  accursed  Iblis  (Diabolus).  Praise 
then  to  our  Lord  Hakim,  the  praise  of  the  thankful ! 
He  is  my  hope  and  victory  ! " 

What  can  you  expect  of  the  women,  if  the  teach- 
ers are  thus  warped  with  hypocrisy  and  falsehood. 
They  receive  you  politely.  Dr.  De  Forest  used  to 
say,  that  there  is  not  a  boor  in  the  Drtize  nation 
But  their  very  politeness  confounds  you.  The  old 


24  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Druze  women  are  masters  of  a  pious  religious  phrase- 
ology. "  We  are  all  sinners."  "  The  Lord's  will  be 
done.'*  "  Praise  to  His  name."  "  He  only  can  com- 
mand." "  The  Lord  be  merciful  to  us."  "  He 
orders  all  things,"  and  yet  they  will  lie  and  deceive, 
and  if  not  of  the  initiated  class,  they  will  swear  in 
the  most  fearful  manner.  The  Okkal  cannot  swear, 
smoke  or  drink,  but  they  tell  a  story  of  a.  village 
where  the  people  were  all  Okkal,  and  things"  having 
reached  a  high  pitch  of  excitement,  they  sent  for  a 
body  of  Jehal  or  the  non-initiated  to  come  over  and 
swear  on  the  subject,  that  their  pure  minds  might  be 
relieved !  When  they  talk  in  the  most  affectingly 
pious  manner,  and  really  surpass  you  in  religious 
sentiment,  you  hardly  know  what  to  do.  Tell  them 
God  knows  the  heart.  They  reply,  "  He  alone  is 
the  All-knowing,  the  Searcher  of  the  hearts  of  men." 
You  shrink  from  telling  them  in  plain  language  that 
they  are  hypocrites  and  liars.  You  can  tell  them 
of  i\\.&  personal  love  of  a  personal  Saviour,  and  this 
simple  story  will  affect  and  has  affected  the  minds 
of  some  of  them  more  than  all  logic  and  eloquent 
refutation  of  their  foggy  and  mysterious  doctrinal 
system. 

They  respect  us  and  treat  us  politely  for  politi- 
cal reasons.  During  the  massacres  of  1860,  I  rode 
from  Abeih  to  Beirut  in  the  midst  of  burning  vil- 
lages, and  armed  bodies  of  Druzes  passed  us  shouting 
the  war  song  "  Ma  halaya  mahala  kotal  en  Nosara," 
*'  How  sweet,  oh  how  sweet,  to  kill  the  Christians," 
and  yet  as  they  passed  us  they  stopped  and  most 


An  Arab  Sheikh. 


THE  DRUZE  WOMEN  AND  DRUZE  RELIGION.    2$ 

politely  paid  their  salams,  saying,  "  Naharkum 
Saieed,"  "  May  your  day  be  blessed,"  "  Allah 
yahtikum  el  afiyeh,"  "  God  -give  you  health  !  " 

When  a  Druze  Sheikh  wishes  to  marry,  he  asks 
consent  of  the  father  without  having  seen  the 
daughter.  If  the  father  consents,  he  informs  her, 
and  if  she  consents,  the  suitor  sends  his  affianced 
presents  of  clothes  and  jewelry,  which  remain  in  her 
hands  as  a  pledge  of  his  fidelity.  She  is  pictured  to 
him  as  the  paragon  of  beauty  and  excellence,  but  he 
is  never  allowed  to  see  her,  speak  to  her,  or  write  to 
her,  should  she  know  how  to  write.  His  mother  or 
aunt  may  see  her  or  bring  reports,  but  he  does  not 
see  her  until  the  wedding  contract  is  signed  and  the 
bride  is  brought  to  his  house. 

The  following  is  the  marriage  ceremony  of  the 
Druzes.  It  is  read  by  the  Kadi  or  Sheikh,  and  in 
accordance  to  the  Druze  doctrine  that  they  must 
outwardly  conform  to  the  religion  of  the  governing 
power,  it  is  a  purely  Mohammedan  ordinance. 

"  Praise  to  God,  the  original  Creator  of  all  things ; 
the  Gracious  in  all  His  gifts  and  prohibitions ;  who 
has  decreed  and  fixed  the  ordinance  of  marriage ; 
may  Allah  pray  for  (bless)  our  Prophet  Mohammed, 
and  his  four  successors  !  Now  after  this,  we  say 
that  marriage  is  one  of  the  laws  given  by  the  proph- 
ets, and  one  of  the  statutes  of  the  pious  to  guard 
against  vice ;  a  "gift  from  the  Lord  of  the  earth  and 
the  heaven.  Praise  to  Him  who  by  it  has  brought 
the  far  ones  near,  and  made  the  foreigner  a  relative 
and  friend  !  We  are  assembled  here  to  attend  to  a 


26  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

matter  decreed  and  fated  of  Allah,  and  whose  be- 
ginning, middle  and  end  he  has  connected  with  the 
most  happy  and  auspicious  circumstances.  This 
matter  is  the  blessed  covenant  of  marriage.  Insh- 
ullah,  may  it  be  completed  and  perfected,  and  praise 
to  Allah,  the  Great  Completer  !  Amen  ! 

In  the  name  of  God,  the  Merciful,  the  Compas- 
sionate. He  is  my  portion  and  sufficiency.  May 
Allah  pray  for  his  pure  prophet !  " 

This  is  the  marriage  contract  between  the  person 
named  A.  son  of  —  of  the  village  of  —  in  the  dis- 
trict of  —  in  Lebanon,  and  his  betrothed  named  B. 
the  daughter  of  —  of  the  village  of  —  she  being  a 
maiden  of  full  and  marriageable  age,  with  no  legal 
obstacles  to  her  marriage.  (May  Allah  protect  her 
veil,  and  have  mercy  on  her  relatives  and  friends  !) 

In  view  of  the  mercies  of  Allah  and  his  prophet  Mo- 
hammed, they  pay  fifty  piastres  ($2.00)  of  full  and  law- 
ful number,  weight  and  measure,  of  the  Imperial  mint 
of  our  Moulah  the  Sultan,  (may  the  exalted  and  merci- 
ful One  give  him  the  victory  !)  and  of  new  white  silver. 
The  agent  of  the  husband  is  —  and  of  the  wife  is — . 

It  is  the  absolute  and  bounden  duty  of  the  hus- 
band to  provide  clothing  for  the  body  of  his  wife  and 
a  crown  for  her  head,  and  of  the  wife  to  give  him  his 
due  honor  and  rights  and  do  his  work,  and  Allah  will 
be  with  those  who  fear  Him,  and  not  suffer  those  who 
do  well  to  lose  their  reward. 

Signed  Sheikh (seal) 

)  seal 

Witnesses  >  seal 

)  seal 


THE  DRUZE  RELIGION  AND  DRUZE   WOMEN.     2f 

A  whole  week  is  given  up  to  festivity  before  her 
arrival,  and  the  retinue  of  the  bride  mounted  on  fine 
horses  escort  her  amid  the  firing  of  musketry,  the 
zilagheet  shrieks  of  the  women,  and  general  rejoicing, 
to  the  bridegroom's  house.  Col.  Churchill  describes 
what  follows  :  "  The  bride  meantime,  after  having  re- 
ceived the  caresses  and  congratulations  of  her  near 
relatives,  is  conducted  to  a  chamber  apart  and  placed 
on  a  divan,  with  a  large  tray  of  sweetmeats  and  con- 
fectionery before  her,  after  which  all  the  females 
withdraw  and  she  is  left  alone,  with  a  massive  veil 
of  muslin  and  gold  thrown  over  her  head  and  cover- 
ing her  face,  breasts  and  shoulders  down  to  the  waist. 
What  thoughts  and  sensations  must  crowd  upon  the 
maiden's  mind  in  this  solitude  !  not  to  be  disturbed 
but  by  him  who  will  shortly  come  to  receive  in  that 
room  his  first  impressions  of  her  charms  and  attrac- 
tions !  Presently  she  Hears  footsteps  at  the  door ;  it 
opens  quietly  ;  silently  and  unattended  her  lover  ap- 
proaches her,  lifts  the  veil  off  her  face,  takes  one 
glance,  replaces  it  and  withdraws." 

He  then  returns  to  the  grand  reception-room, 
takes  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  divan  amid  the 
throng  of  Sheikhs  and  other  invited  guests.  He 
maintains  an  imperturbable  silence,  his  mind  being 
supposed  to  be  absorbed  by  one  engrossing  object. 
It  may  be  delight.  It  may  be  bitter  disappointment. 
It  is  generally  past  midnight  when  the  party  breaks 
up  and  the  family  retires. 

A  plurality  of  wives  is  absolutely  forbidden.  If  a 
Druze  wishes  to  divor-ce  his  wife,  he  has  merely  to 


28        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

say,  "  You  had  better  go  back  to  your  father,"  or  she, 
the  woman,  wishes  to  leave  her  husband,  she  says,  "  I 
wish  to  go  back  to  my  father,"  and  if  her  husband 
says,  "  Very  well,  go,"  the  divorce  in  either  case  holds 
good,  and  the  separation  is  irrevocable.  Both  parties 
are  free  to  re-marry.  Childlessness  is  a  common  cause 
of  divorce. 

The  birth  of  a  son  is  the  occasion  of  great  rejoic- 
ing and  presents  to  the  family.  But  the  birth  of  a 
daughter  is  considered  a  misfortune,  and  of  course 
not  the  slightest  notice  is  taken  of  so  inauspicious  an 
event.  This  holds  true  among  all  the  sects  and  peo- 
ples of  Syria,  and  nothing  but  a  Christian  training  and 
the  inculcation  of  the  pure  principles  of  gospel  mor- 
ality can  remove  this  deeply  seated  prejudice.  The 
people  say  the  reason  of  their  dislike  of  daughters  is 
that  while  a  son  builds  up  the  house,  and  brings  in  a 
wife  from  without  and  perpetuates  the  family  name, 
the  daughter  pulls  down  the  house,  loses  her  name, 
and  is  lost  to  the  family. 

The  wealthier  and  more  aristocratic  Druze  sitts  or 
ladies  are  taught  to  read  by  the  Fakih  or  teacher, 
but  the  masses  of  the  women  are  in  brutish  ignorance. 
You  enter  a  Druze  house.  The  woman  waits  upon 
you  and  brings  coffee,  but  you  see  only  one  eye,  the 
rest  of  the  head  and  faee  being  closely  veiled.  In 
an  aristocratic  house,  you  would  never  be  allowed  to 
see  the  lady,  and  if  she  goes  abroad,  it  is  only  at 
night,  and  with  attendants  on  every  side  to  keep  off 
the  profane  gaze  of  strangers.  If  a  physician  is  call- 
ed to  attend  a  sick  Druze  woman,  he  cannot  see  her 


THE  DRUZE  RELIGION  AND  DRUZE    WOMEN.      29 

face  nor  her  tongue,  unless  she  choose  to  thrust  it 
through  a  hole  in  her  veil.  In  many  cases  they  suffer 
a  woman  to  die  sooner  than  have  her  face  seen  by  a 
physician. 

The  Druzes  marry  but  one  wife  at  a  time,  and 
yet  divorce  is  so  common  and  so  heartlessly  practiced 
by  the  men,  that  the  poor  women  live  in  constant 
fear  of  being  driven  from  their  homes. 

In  Abeih,  we  were  startled  one  evening  by  the  cry 
"  Rouse  ye  men  of  self  respect !  Come  and  help  us ! '' 
It  was  a  dark,  rainy  night,  and  the  earthen  roof  of  a 
Druze  house  had  fallen  in,  burying  a  young  man,  his 
wife  and  his  mother,  under  the  mass  of  earth,  stones 
and  timber.  They  all  escaped  death,  but  were  serious- 
ly injured,  the  poor  young  wife  suffering  the  most  of 
all,  having  fallen  with  her  left  arm  in  a  bed  of  burn- 
ing coals,  and  having  been  compelled  to  lie  there 
half  an  hour,  so  that  when  dug  out,  her  hand  was 
burned  to  a  cinder!  For  several  days  the  husband 
refused  to  send  for  a  doctor,  but  at  length  his  wife 
Hala  was  sent  to  the  College  Hospital  (of  the  Prus- 
sian Knights  of  St.  John)  in  Beirut  where  Dr.  Post 
amputated  the  hand  below  the  elbow. 

One  would  naturally  suppose  that  such  a  calamity, 
in  which  both  so  narrowly  escaped  death,  would 
bind  husband  and  wife  together  in  the  strongest 
bonds  of  affection  and  sympathy.  But  not  so  in 
this  case.  The  poor  young  wife  is  now  threatened 
with  divorce,  because  she  is  no  longer  of  any  use  to 
her  husband,  and  her  two  little  children  are  to  be 
taken  from  her  !  She  lies  on  her  bed  in  the  Hospital, 


jo        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS, 

the  very  picture  of  stoical  resignation.  Not  a  groan 
or  complaint  escapes  her. 

She  said  one  day,  "  Oh  how  glad  I  am  that  this 
happened,  for  it  has  taken  away  all  my  sins,  and  I 
shall  never  have  to  suffer  again  in  this  world  or  the 
next !  "  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Druzes,  and, 
cold  and  false  as  it  is,  she  has  made  it  her  support 
and  her  stay. 

Dr.  Post  and  Mrs.  Bliss  have  pointed  her  to  the 
Lamb  of  God  "  who  bore  our  sins  in  His  own  body 
on  the  tree,"  and  she  seems  interested  to  hear  and 
learn  more. 

Her  younger  sister  is  in  the  Beirut  Seminary. 
May  this  poor  sufferer  find  peace  where  alone  it 
can  be  found,  in  trusting  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin ! 

The  cruelty  of  her  husband,  sanctioned  as  it  is 
by  the  religious  code  of  the  Druzes,  may  be  the 
means  of  opening  her  eyes  to  the  falsity  of  that 
heartless  Christless  system,  and  lead  her  to  the  foot 
of  the  Cross ! 

Christians,  who  read  these  lines,  pray  for  Hala 
of  Abeih  ! 

SITT    ABLA. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  in  the  little  Druze 
village  of  Aitath,  in  Lebanon,  about  seven  miles  from 
Beirut,  lived  a  family  of  Druze  Sheikhs  of  the  tribe 
of  Telhuk.  This  tribe  was  divided  into  the  great 
Sheikhs  and  the  little  Sheikhs,  and  among  the  latter 
was  the  Sheikh  Khottar.  The  proximity  of  this 


THE  DRUZE   WOMEN  AND  DRUZE  RELIGION.     31 

village  to  Beirut,  its  elevated  position,  cool  air,  and 
fine  fountain  of  water,  made  it  a  favorite  summer 
retreat  for  the  missionaries  from  the  withering  heats 
of  the  plain.  Sheikh  Khottar  and  his  wife  the  Sitt, 
having  both  died,  their  orphan  son  Selim  and 
daughter  Abla,  called  the  Sitt  (or  lady)  Abla,  were 
placed  under  the  care  of  other  members  of  the 
family  of  Telhuk.  The  missionaries  opened  a 
school  for  boys  and  Selim  attended  it.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Van  Dyck  were  living  in  Aitath  at  the  time, 
and  the  young  Druze  maiden  Abla,  who  was  be- 
trothed to  a  Druze  Sheikh,  became  greatly  attached 
to  Mrs.  Van  Dyck,  and  came  almost  constantly  to 
visit  her.  The  light  of  a  better  faith  and  the  truth 
of  a  pure  gospel  gradually  dawned  upon  her  mind, 
until  her  love  for  Mrs.  Van  Dyck  grew  into  love  for 
the  Saviour  of  sinners.  The  Sheikh  to  whom  she 
was  betrothed  was  greatly  enraged  at  her  course  in 
visiting  a  Christian  lady,  and  meeting  her  one  day 
when  returning  to  her  home,  attacked  her  in  the 
most  brutal  manner,  and  gave  her  a  severe  beating. 
She  fled  and  took  refuge  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Van 
Dyck,  who  had  taught  her  to  read  and  given  her  a 
Bible.  A  short  time  after,  several  of  her  cousins 
seized  her  and  scourged  her  most  cruelly,  and  a 
violent  persecution  was  excited  against  her  and  her 
brother  Selim.  She  was  in  daily  and  hourly  expec- 
tation of  being  killed  by  her  male  relatives,  as  it  had 
never  been  heard  of  in  the  Druze  nation  that  a 
young  girl  should  dare  to  become  a  Christian,  and 
Mr.  Whiting,  missionary  in  Abeih,  sent  over  a  cour- 


32        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

ageous  Protestant  youth  named  Saleh,  who  took  the 
Sitt  Abla  by  night  over  the  rough  mountain  road  to 
Abeih  in  safety.  But  even  here  she  was  not  safe. 
The  Druzes  of  Lebanon  at  that  time  were  at  the 
height  of  their  feudal  power.  Girls  and  women  were 
killed  among  them  without  the  least  notice  on  the 
part  of  the  mountain  government.  Abla  was  like  a 
prisoner  in  the  missionary's  house,  not  venturing  to 
go  outside  the  door,  and  in  order  to  be  at  peace, 
she  went  down  with  her  brother  to  Beirut,  where 
she  has  since  resided.  Selim  united  with  the 
Church,  but  was  afterwards  suspended  from  com- 
munion for  improper  conduct,  and  joined  himself  to 
the  Jesuits,  so  that  Abla  has  had  to  endure  a  two- 
fold persecution  from  her  Druze  relatives  and  her 
Jesuit  brother.  On  her  removal  to  Beirut  she  was 
disinherited  and  deprived  of  her  little  portion  of  her 
father's  estate,  and  her  life  has  been  a  constant 
struggle  with  persecution,  poverty  and  want.  Yet 
amid  all,  she  has  stood  firm  as  a  rock,  never  swerv- 
ing from  the  truth,  or  showing  any  disposition  to  go 
back  to  her  old  friends.  At  times  she  has  suffered 
from  extreme  privation,  and  the  missionaries  and 
native  Protestants  would  only  hear  of  it  through 
others  who  happened  to  meet  her.  Since  uniting 
with  the  Church  in  1849  s^e  ^as  lived  a  Christian 
life.  In  a  recent  conversation  she  said,  "  I  count  all 
things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord,  for  whom  I  have  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  things.  .  .  .  and  I  still  continue,  by  the 
grace  of  Him  Exalted,  and  by  the  merits  of  Jesus 


THE  DR  UZE  .  WOMEN  A  ND  DR  UZE  RELIGION.     3  3 

Christ  my  Saviour,  awaiting,a  happy  death,  and  ever- 
lasting rest." 

KHOZMA. 

Her  Christian  experience  is  like  that  of  Khozma 
Ata.  She  is  the  only  female  member  of  the  Protest- 
ant church  in  Syria  from  among  the  Druzes,  except 
Sitt  Abla.  She  was  born  in  Beiritt  of  the  Druze 
family  of  Witwat,  and  when  quite  a  child  was  taken 
by  Dr.  Beadle,  then  by  Miss  Tilden,  living  at  one 
time  in  Aleppo,  then  in  Jerusalem,  and  finally  set- 
tled in  the  family  of  Dr.  De  Forest,  where  she  con- 
tinued until  his  departure  for  America  in  1854.  For 
several  years  she  has  been  an  invalid,  and  is  not 
often  able  to  leave  her  house,  even  to  go  to-church. 
Two  of  her  little  girls  are  in  the  Female  Seminary. 
In  1861  she  taught  a  day  school  for  girls  in  Beirut, 
and  assisted  Dr.  De  Forest  in  his  work  in  the  Beirut 
Seminary.  I  called  upon  her  a  few  days  since,  and 
she  handed  me  a  roll  of  Arabic  manuscript,  which 
she  said  she  had  been  translating  from  the  English. 
It  is  a  series  of  stories  for  children  which  she  has 
prepared  to  be  printed  in  our  monthly  journal  for 
Syrian  children.  The  name  of  the  journal  is  "  kou- 
kab  es  Subah,"  or  •"  Morning  Star."  She  has  been 
confined  to  her  bed  a  part  of  the  summer,  and  when 
she  gave  me  the  manuscript,  she  apologized  for  the 
handwriting,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  written 
the  most  of  it  sitting  or  lying  on  her  bed.  She  has 
not  forgotten  the  example  and  instructions  of  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  De  Forest,  and  speaks  of  them  with  en- 
2* 


34 


THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


thusiastic  interest.  Her  husband  failed  in  business 
some  years  ago,  and  she  is  in  a  constant  struggle 
with  want,  but  her  old  friends  and  loving  sisters, 
Raheel  and  Lulu,  who  are  among  her  nearest  neigh- 
bors, are  unremitting  in  their  kind  attentions  to  her. 
What  a  difference  between  the  faithful  Christian 
nurture  her  little  children  are  receiving  at  home, 
and  the  worse  than  no  training  received  by  the 
children  of  her  Druze  relatives  at  Ras  Beirut,  who 
are  still  under  the  shadow  of  their  old  superstitions. 
She  never  curses  her  children  nor  invokes  the  wrath 
of  God  upon  them.  She'  is  never  beaten  and  spit 
upon  and  tortured  and  threatened  with  death  by 
her  husband.  It  is  worth  much  to  have  rescued  a 
Khozma  and  an  Abla  from  the  degradation  of  Druze 
superstition  !  These  two  good  women,  with  Abdul- 
lah in  Beirut,  and  Hassan,  Hassein,  Asaad  and  Ali, 
in  Lebanon,  are  among  the  living  witnesses  to  the 
preciousness  of  the  love  of  Christ,  who  have  come 
forth  from  the  Druze  community.  They  have  been 
persecuted,  and  may  be  again,  but  they  stand  firm 
in  Christ.  Not  a  few  Druze  girls  are  gathered  in 
our  schools  in  Beirut,  Lebanon,  and  the  vicinity  of 
Hermon,  as  well  as  in  other  schools  in  Damascus, 
Hasbeiya  and  elsewhere,  and  some  of  their  young 
men  are  receiving  a  Christian  education. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NUSAIRIYEH. 

<PT*O  the  North  of  Mount  Lebanon,  and  along  the 
low  range  of  mountains  extending  from  Antioch 
to  Tripoli,  and  from  the  Mediterranean  on  the  West 
to  Hums  on  the  East,  live  a  strange,  wild,  blood- 
thirsty race  called  the  Nusairiyeh  numbering  about 
200,000  souls,  and  now  for  the  first  time  in  their  his- 
tory coming  within  the  range  of  Missionary  effort. 

The  Druzes  admit  women  to  the  Akkal  or  initia- 
ted class,  but  not  so  the  Nusairiyeh.  The  great  se- 
cret of  the  Sacrament  is  administered  in  a  secluded 
place,  the  women  being  shut  up  in  a  house,  or  kept 
away  from  the  mysteries.  In  these  assemblies  the 
Sheikh  reads  prayers,  and  then  all  join  in  cursing 
Abubekr,  Omar,  Othman,  Sheikh  et-Turkoman  and 
the  Christians  and  others.  Then  he  gives  a  spoonful  of 
wine,  first  to  the  Sheikhs  present,  and  then  to  all  the 
rest.  They  then  eat  fruit,  offer  other  prayers,  and 
the  assembly  breaks  up.  The  rites  of  initiation  are 
frightful  in  the  extreme,  attended  by  threats,  impre- 
cations and  blasphemous  oaths,  declaring  their  lives 
forfeited  if  they  expose  the  secrets  of  the  order. 

They  use  given  signs  and  questions,  by  which  they 
salute  each  other,  and  ascertain  whether  a  stranger 
is  one  of  them  or  not.  In  their  books  they  employ 


36  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  "double  interlacing  triangle  or  seal  of  Solomon. 
They  call  each  other  brethren,  and  enjoin  love  and 
truthfulness,  but  only  to  the  brethren.  In  this  they 
are  like  the  Druzes.  So  little  do  they  regard  all  out- 
side their  own  sect,  that  they /ray  to  God  to  take  out 
of  the  hearts  of  all  others  than  themselves,  what  little 
light  of  knowledge  and,  certainty  they  may  possess  ! 
The  effect  of  this  secret,  exclusive,  and  selfish  system 
is  shown  in  the  conduct  of  the  Nusairiyeh  in  robbing 
and  murdering  Moslems  and  Christians  without  com- 
punction. 

As  it  has  been  said,  the  Nusairiyeh  women  are  en- 
tirely excluded  from  all  participation  in  religious  cer- 
emonies and  prayers,  and  from  all  religious  teaching. 
The  reason  given  is  two-fold  ;  the  first  being  that 
women  cannot  be  trusted  to  keep  a  secret,  and  the 
second  because  they  are  considered  by  the  Nusairi- 
yeh as  something  unclean.  They  believe  that  the 
soul  of  a  wicked  man  may  pass  at  death  into  "a  brute, 
or  he  may  be  punished  for  his  sins  in  this  life  by  be- 
ing born  in  a  woman's  .form  in  the  next  generation. 
And  so,  if  a  woman  live  in  virtue  and  obedience,  there 
is  hope  of  her  again  being  born  into  the  world  as  a 
man,  and  becoming  one  of  the  illuminati  and  possess- 
ors of  the  secret.  It  is  a  long  time  for  the  poor  things 
to  wait,  but  it  is  a  convenient  reward  for  their  hus- 
bands to  hold  out  before  them. 

Yet  the  women  are  so  religiously  inclined  by 
nature  that  they  will  have  some  object  of  worship, 
and  while  their  husbands,  fathers  and  sons  are  talk- 
ing and  praying  about  the  celestial  hierarchies,  and 


NUSAIRIYEH. 


37 


the  unfathomable  mysteries,  the  wives,  mothers  and 
daughters  will  throng  the  "  zeyarehs,"  or  holy  visit- 
ing shrines,  on  the  hill  tops,  and  among  the  groves 
of  green  trees,  to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the  reputed 
saints  of  ancient  days.  These  shrines  are  supposed 
to  have  miraculous  powers,  but  Friday  is  the  day 
when  the  prophets  are  more  especially  "  at  home," 
to  receive  visitors.  On  other  days  they  may  be  "  on 
a  journey,"  or  asleep.  Whenever  a  Nuisairiyeh  woman 
is  in  sorrow  or  trouble  or  fear,  she  goes  to  the  zeya- 
reh  and  cries  in  a  piteous  tqne,  "  zeyareh,  hear 
me !  " 

Their  women  do  not  veil  themselves,  and  conse- 
quently there  is  more  of  freedom  among  them  than 
among  Moslems  and  Druzes,  and  in  their  great  festi- 
vals, men  and  women  all  dance  together. 

When  a  young  man  sees  a  girl  who  pleases  him, 
he  bargains  with  her  father,  agreeing  to  pay  from 
twenty  dollars  to  two  hundred,  according  to  the  dig- 
nity of  her  family ;  of  which  sum  she  receives  but 
four  dollars,  unless  her  father  should  choose  to  give 
her  a  red  bridal  box  and  bedding  for  her  outfit.  She 
rides  in  great  state  to  the  bridegroom's  house  amid 
the  firing  of  guns  and  shouts  of  the  women,  and  on 
dismounting,  the  bridegroom  gives  her  a  present  of 
from  one  to  three  dollars,  called  the  "  dismounting 
money." 

Divorce  needs  only  the  will  of  the  man,  and  polyg- 
amy is  common.  Lane  says  in  speaking  of  Egypt, 
"  The  depraving  effects  of  this  freedom  of  divorce  up- 
on both  sexes,  may  be  easily  imagined.  There  are 


2  8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

many  men  in  this  country  who,  in  the  course  of  ten 
years,  have  married  as  many  as  twenty,  thirty  or  more 
wives  ;  and  women,  not  far  advanced  in  age,  who 
have  been  wives  to  a  dozen  or  more  men  succes- 
sively." 

The  Nusairiyeh  women  smoke,  swear,  and  use  the 
most  vile  and  unclean  language,  and  even  go  beyond 
the  men  in  these  respects.  Swearing  and  lying  are 
universal  not  only  among  the  Nusairiyeh,  but  among 
the  most  of  the  Syrian  people.  You  never  receive  a 
direct  reply  from  a  Nusairy.  He  will  answer  your 
question  by  asking  another,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  as- 
certain your  object  in  asking  it  and  to  conceal  the  true 
state  of  the  case.  Their  Moslem  and  nominal  Chris- 
tian neighbors  are  not  much  better.  They  all  lie,  and 
swear,  and  deceive.  Mr.  Lyde  illustrates  the  ignorance 
of  the  Greek  clergy  in  Latakiah  by  the  following  in- 
cident. A  ploughman  who  had  learned  something  of 
the  Bible,  heard  a  Greek  priest  cursing  the  father  of 
a  little  child.  He  said,  "  My  father,  is  it  right  to 
curse  ?  "  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  it  was  only  from  my  lips." 
"  But  does  not  the  psalmist  say,  Keep  the  door  of  my 
lips  ? "  "  That"  replied  the  priest,  "  is  only  in  the 
English  Bible." 

Walpole  says  of  the  Nusairiyeh  women,  "when 
young,  they  are  handsome,  often  fair,  with  light  hair 
and  jet-black  eyes ;  or  the  rarer  beauty  of  fair  eyes 
and  coal-black  hair  or  eyebrows." 

When  a  fight  takes  place  between  the  tribes,  the 
women,  like  the  women  of  the  Druzes,  enter  into  the 
spirit  of  it  with  demoniacal  fury.  During  the  battle 


NUSAIRIYEH. 


39 


they  bring  jars  of  water,  shout,  sing,  and  encourage 
the  men,  and  at  the  close  carry  off  the  booty,  such 
as  pots,  pans,  chickens,  quilts,  wooden  doors,  trays, 
etc.  In  the  Druze  war  of  1860,  I  saw  the  Druze 
women  running  with  the  men  through  Aitath,  on 
their  way  to  the  scene  of  hostilities  in  the  Metn. 
The  Bedawin  women  likewise  aid  their  husbands  in 
the  commissariat  of  their  nomad  warfare. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Lyde  was  the  first  to  undertake  di- 
rect missionary  labors  among  the  Nusairiyeh,  and  his 
work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rian Mission  in  Latakiah.  The  Rev.  J.  Beattie  sends 
me  the  following  facts  with  regard  to  the  work  now 
going  on  among  the  women  and  girls. 

The  first  convert  under  the  labors  of  Mr.  Lyde 
was  Hamrmid,  of  the  village  of  Merj,  a  young  man 
of  fine  mind  and  most  lovely  character,  who  gave 
promise  of  great  usefulness.  After  he  became  a 
Christian,  his  mother,  finding  that  no  Nusairy  girl 
would  marry  a  Christian,  determined  to*  secure  a  young 
girl  and  have  her  educated  for  Hamrmid.  So  she 
paid  four  Turkish  pounds  for  a  little  Nusairy  girl 
named  Zahara  or  Venus,  whose  widowed  mother  had 
removed  to  her  village.  This  payment  was  in  accord- 
ance with  Nusairy  customs,  and  constituted  the 
girl's  dowry.  After  the  betrothal  in  1863,  Hamrmid 
sent  her  to  Latakiah,  where  she  was  taken  into  the 
family  of  the  late  Dr.  Dodds  for  instruction  and 
training.  She  gladly  received  the  truth,  and  Ham- 
mud  labored  earnestly  for  her  enlightenment.  Every- 
thing seemed  bright  and  promising,  until  suddenly  all 


4O  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

their  earthly  hopes  were  dashed  by  the  early  death  of 
Hammud  in  December,  1864.  He  died  in  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  Christian  faith,  and  from  that  time  she 
gave  herself  to  the  Lord.  In  August,  1865,  she  with 
several  others  was  baptized  and  received  into  the 
communion  of  the  Church.  At  her  own  request,  she 
was  baptized  as  Miriam. 

In  1866  she  was  married  to  Yusef  Jedid,  and 
lived  with  him  in  several  of  the  villages  among  the 
Nusairiyeh,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching. 
Her  husband  at  length  removed  to  Bahluliyeh  in 
1870,  and  a  wide  door  of  usefulness  was  opened  to 
them.  Her  little  daughters  Lulu  and  Helany  were 
with  her,  and  there  was  every  prospect  that  she 
would  be  able  to  do  much  for  Christ  among  her 
benighted  sisters.  But  the  same  disease,  consump- 
tion, which  prostrated  Hammud,  now  laid  her  aside. 
It  was  probably  brought  on  by  a  careless  exposure 
of  her  health  while  lying  down  on  the  damp  ground 
and  falling  asle'ep  uncovered,  as  the  natives  of  the 
mountain  villages  are  in  the  habit  of  doing.  The 
missionaries  from  Latakiah  constantly  visited  her, 
and  Dr.  Metheny  gave  her  the  benefit  of  his  medi- 
cal skill,  but  all  in  vain.  She  loved  to  converse  on 
heavenly  things,  and  hear  the  Scriptures  and  prayer. 
But  when  the  missionaries  returned  to  the  city,  she 
was  overwhelmed  by  the  rebukes  and  merciless  up- 
braidings  of  the  fellaheen,  who  have  no  sympathy 
for  the  sick,  the  disabled  and  the  dying.  Her  ears 
were  filled  with  the  sound  of  cursing  and  bitterness, 
and  no  wonder  that  she  entreated  the  missionaries 


NUSAIRIYEII.  41 

not  to  leave  her.  She  told  Mr.  Beattie  that  she  did 
not  fear  to  die,  for  her  trust  was  in  Jesus  Christ,  but 
it  was  hard  to  be  left  among  such  coarse  and  unsym- 
pathizing  people.  At  length  she  was  brought  into 
Latakiah,  where  she  seemed  to  feel  more  at  home. 
At  times  she  passed  through  severe  spiritual  conflicts, 
and  said  she  was  struggling  with  the  adversary,  who 
had  tried  to  make  her  blaspheme.  At  one  time  she 
was  in  great  excitement,  but  when  the  34th  Psalm 
was  read  she  became  entirely  composed  and  calm, 
and  in  turn  began  chanting  the  23rd  Psalm  to  the 
end.  She  sent  for  all  of  her  friends  and  begged  their 
forgiveness,  commended  her  children  to  the  care  of 
Miss  Crawford,  and  asked  Mr.  Beattie  to  pray  with 
her  again.  Her  bodily  sufferings  now  increased, 
when  suddenly  she  called  out,  "  The  Lord  be  glori- 
fied !  To  God  give  the  glory !  "  Soon  after,  she 
gently  fell  "asleep  in  Jesus."  Thus  died  the  first 
woman,  as  far  as  we  know,  ever  truly  converted  from 
among  the  Pagan  Nusairiyeh.  Her  conversion 
opened  the  way  for  that  work  of  moral,  religious  and 
intellectual  elevation  among  the  Nusairy  females 
which  has  since  been  carried  on  in  Latakiah  and 
vicinity. 

The  first  Christian  woman  to  undertake  the  direct 
task  of  educating  and  elevating  the  Nusairiyeh  females 
was  Miss  Crawford.  She  commenced  her  work  in 
1869.  The  Mission  had  found  that  the  Boarding 
School  for  boys  was  training  a  class  of  young  men, 
who  could  not  find,  among  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
families  in  their  native  mountains,  a  single  girl  fitted 


42        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

to  be  one's  companion  for  life.  The  females  were 
everywhere  neglected,  and  Miss  Crawford  came  to 
Syria  just  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  need.  Under 
the  care  and  direction  of  the  Mission,  she  commenced 
a  Boarding  School  for  girls  in  Latakiah  in  the  fall  of 
1869.  At  first,  but  few  pupils  could  be  persuaded  to 
come.  Only  two  attended  during  the  first  year. 
Their  names  were  Sada  and  Naiuf,  the  sister  of 
Zahara.  The  next  year  Sada  left,  and  ten  new  ones 
entered  the  school:  Marie,  Howa,  Naiseh,  Shehla, 
•Thaljeh,  (snow,)  Tumra,  (fruit,)  Ghazella,  Husna, 
Bureib'han,  and  Harba.  They  were  all  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  in  age,  and  remained  through  the  winter, 
but  at  the  beginning  of  wheat  harvest,  their  friends 
forced  them  to  return  to  their  homes  for  the  summer. 
They  made  marked  progress  both  in  study  and  de- 
portment, and  before  leaving  for  their  homes  passed 
a  creditable  examination  both  in  their  studies  and  in 
needlework.  The  fact  was  thus  established  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  citizens  of  Latakiah,  that  the 
Nusairiyeh  girls  were  equal  in  intellect  and  skill  in 
needlework  to  the  brightest  of  the  city  girls.  In  the 
autumn  of  1871  it  was  feared  that  the  Pagan  parents 
of  the  girls  would  prevent  their  return  to  the  school, 
but,  greatly  to  the  gratification  of  the  missionaries,  all 
of  the  ten  returned,  bringing  with  them  nine  others  ; 
Hamameh,  (dove,)  Henireh,  Elmaza,  (diamond,) 
Deebeh,(she-wolf,)  Alexandra,  Zeinab,  Lulu,  (pearl,) 
Howwa,  (Eve,)  and  Naameh,  (grace). 

During  the  year  the  pupils  brought  new  joy  to 
the  hearts  of  their  teachers.     Not  only  were  their 


NUSAIRIYEH. 


43 


numbers  greatly  increased,  but  the  older  girls  seemed 
all  to  be  under  the  influence  of  deep  religious  im- 
pressions on  their  return  to  the  school.  Although 
they  had  spent  the  summer  among  the  wild  fella- 
heen and  been  compelled  to  listen  to  blasphemy, 
impurity  and  cursing  on  every  side,  they  had  been 
able  by  the  aid  of  God's  Spirit  to  discriminate 
between  good  and  evil,  and  to  contrast  the  lawless 
wickedness  of  the  fellaheen  with  the  holy  precepts 
of  the  Bible.  Finding  themselves  unable  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  God's  pure  and  holy  law,  they 
returned  under  serious  distress  of  mind,  asking  what 
they  should  do  to  be  saved  ?  Such  of  them  as  could 
do  so,  had  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  together 
during  the  summer  for  prayer,  and  of  repeating  the 
ten  commandments  and  other  portions  of  Scripture 
with  which  they  were  familiar.  They  had  been 
threatened  and  beaten  by  their  friends  on  account 
of  their  religious  views,  but  they  remained  unmoved. 
The  child-like  simple  faith  of  some  of  them  was 
remarkable.  Marie  was  punished  on  one  occasion 
by  her  father  for  attending  the  missionary  service  at 
B'hamra  on  the  Sabbath.  He  forbade  her  to  eat 
for  a  whole  day,  and  she  prayed  that  God  would 
give  her  bread.  •  Soon  after,  on  her  way  to  the  vil- 
lage fountain,  she  found  part  of  a  merkuk,  loaf  of 
bread,  by  the  wayside,  which  she  picked  up  and  ate 
most  gratefully,  regarding  it  as  a  direct  answer  to 
her  prayer.  Another  Ghuzaleh,  was  brutally  beaten 
because  she  would  not  swear  and  blaspheme,  and 


44 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


all  were  threatened  and  insulted  because  they  would 
not  work  on  Sunday. 

In  November,  1871,  seven  of  these  girls,  on  their 
own  application,  were  received  into  the  membership 
of  the  Church.  It  was  an  interesting  sight  to  see 
that  group  of  Nusairiyeh  heathen  girls  standing  to 
receive  the  ordinance  of  Christian  baptism.  In  the 
spring  of  1872,  another  was  added  to  the  list. 
These  little  ones  of  Christ  have  all  thus  far  shown 
themselves  faithful.  They  were  sent  back  to  their 
homes  in  the  summer,  and  several,  if  not  the  most, 
of  them  may  be  forbidden  to  return  again  to  the 
school.  Some  may  say,  why  allow  them  to  go 
home  ?  The  policy  of  encouraging  children  to  run 
away  from  their  parents  and  connect  themselves 
with  foreign  missionaries  and  missionary  institutions, 
will  lead  the  heathen  to  hate  the  very  name  of 
Christianity,  and  to  charge  it  with  being  a  foe  to  all 
social  and  family  order,  and  on  the  broad  ground  of 
missionary  usefulness,  the  girls  can  do  far  more 
good  in  their  own  homes  than  elsewhere. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHRONICLE  OF  WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  l82O  TO  18/2. 

T  T  must  not  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  said  on 
a  preceding  page  with  regard  to  the  favorable 
position  occupied  by  the  women  of  the  nominal 
Christian  sects  of  Syria  as  compared  with  the  Mo- 
hammedan women,  that  the  first  missionaries  found 
the  Greek  and  Maronite  women  and  girls  who  speak 
the  Arabic  language  eager  or  even  willing  to  receive 
instruction.  Far  from  it.  The  effects  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan domination  of  twelve  hundred  years  have 
been  to  degrade  and  depress  all  the  sects  and  nation- 
alities who  are  subject  to  Islam.  Not  only  were 
there  not  women  and  girls  found  to  learn  to  read, 
but  the  great  mass  of  the  men  of  the  Christian  sects 
could  neither  read  nor  write.  Many  of  the  promi- 
nent Arab  merchants  in  Beirut  to-day  can  neither 
read  nor  write.  I  say  Arab  merchants,  and  yet  very 
few  of  the  Arabs  of  the  Greek  Church  have  more 
than  a  mere  tinge  of  Arab  blood  in  their  veins.  To 
call  them  Syrians,  would  be  to  confound  them  with 
the  "  Syrian  "  or  "  Jacobite  "  sect,  who  are  found  only 
in  the  vicinity  of  Hums,  Hamath  and  Mardin.  So 
with  the  Maronites.  They  arc  chiefly  of  a  darker  com- 
plexion than  the  Arab  Greeks,  and  are  supposed  to 


46  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

have  had  their  origin  in  Mesopotamia.  Yet  all  these 
sects  and  races  speak  the  common  Arabic  language, 
and  hence  it  will  be  convenient  to  call  them  Arabs, 
although  I  am  aware,  that  while  many  of  the  modern 
Syrians  glory  in  the  name  "  Oulad  el  Arab,"  many 
others  regard  it  with  dislike. 

The  Syrian  Christianity,  moreover,  so  often  al- 
luded to  in  the  history  of  the  Syrian  Mission,  is  the 
lowest  type  of  the  religion  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
churches.  Saint-worship  and  picture-worship  are 
universal.  An  ignorant  priesthood,  and  a  super- 
stitious people,  no  Bibles,  and  no  readers  to  read 
them,  no  schools  and  no  teachers  capable  of  conduct- 
ing them,  prayers  in  unknown  tongues,  and  a  bitter 
feeling  of  party  spirit  in  all  the  sects,  universal  be- 
lief in  the  efficacy  of  fasts  and  vows,  pilgrimages  and 
offerings  to  the  shrines  of  reputed  saints,  churches 
without  a  preached  gospel,  and  prayers  performed 
as  a  duty  without  the  worship  of  the  heart,  univer- 
sal Mariolatry,  a  Sabbath  desecrated  by  priests  and 
people  alike,  God's  name  everywhere  profaned  by 
men,  women  and  children,  and  truthfulness  of  lip  al- 
most absolutely  unknown  ;  the  women  and  girls  de- 
graded and  oppressed  and  left  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  a  corrupt  clergy  through  the  infamies  of  the  con- 
fessional ;  all  these  practices  and  many  others  which 
space  forbids  us  to  mention,  combined  with  the  social 
bondage  entailed  upon  woman  by  the  gross  code  of 
Islam,  rendered  the  women  of  the  nominal  Christian 
sects  of  Syria  almost  as  hopeless  subjects  of  mission- 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  1820  TO  1872.  47 

ary  labor  as  were  their  less  favored  Druze  and  Moslem 
sisters. 

In  order  to  present  the  leading  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  Mission  Work  for  Syrian  women,  I  propose 
to  give  a  brief  review  of  the  salient  points,  in  the 
order  of  time,  as  I  have  been  able  to  glean  them 
from  the  missionary  documents  within  my  reach. 

The  first  Protestant  missionary  to  Syria  since  the 
days  of  the  Apostles,  was  the  Rev.  Levi  Parsons, 
who  reached  Jerusalem  January  16,  1821,  and  died 
in  Alexandria  February  10,  1822.  In  1823,  Rev. 
Pliny  Fisk,  and  Dr.  Jonas  King  reached  Jerusalem 
to  take  his  place,  and  on  the  loth  of  July  came  to 
Beirut.  Dr.  King  spent  the  summer  in  Deir  el  Kamr, 
and  Mr.  Fisk  in  a  building  now  occupied  by  the  Je- 
suit College  in  Aintura. 

On  the  i6th  of  November,  1823,  Messrs.  Goodell 
and  Bird  reached  Beirut,  and  on  the  6th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1824,  they  wrote  as  follows  :  "  Mr.  King's  Arab- 
ic instructor  laughs  heartily  that  the  ladies  of  oui 
company  are  served  first  at  table.  He  said  that  if 
any  person  should  come  to  his  house  and  speak  to 
his  wife  j£r.y/,  he  should  be  offended.  He  said  the 
English  ladies  have  some  understanding,  the  Arab 
women  have  none.  It  is  the  custom  of  this  country 
that  a  woman  must  never  be  seen  eating  or  walking, 
or  in  company  with  her  husband.  When  she  walks 
abroad,  she  must  wrap  herself  in  a  large  white  sheet, 
and  look  like  a  ghost,  and  at  home  she  must  be 
treated  more  like  a  slave  than  a  partner.  Indeed, 
women  are  considered  of  so  little  consequence  that 


48        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS, 

to  ask  a  man  after  the  health  of  his  wife,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  is  said  never  to  find  a  place  in  the  social 
intercourse  of  this  country." 

Jan.  24,  1825,  Dr.  Goodell  wrote,  "Some  adult 
females  come  occasionally  to  be  taught  by  Mrs.  Bird 
or  Mrs.  Goodell,  and  although  their  attendance  is 
very  irregular,  and  their  disadvantages  very  great,  be- 
ing  without  Arabic  books,  and  their  friends  deriding 
their  efforts,  yet  they  make  some  improvement.  One 
of  them,  who  a  fortnight  ago  did  not  know  a  single 
letter  of  the  alphabet,  can  now  read  one  verse  in  the 
Bible." 

July  i,  1825,  "Messrs.  Goodell  and  Bird  speak  of 
the  first  girls  taught  to  read  in  Syria  in  mission 
schools.  "  Our  school  contains  between  eighty  and 
ninety  scholars,  who  are  all  boys  except  two.  One  is 
the  teacher's  wife,  who  is  perhaps  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  the  other  a  little  girl  about  ten."  That  teacher 
was  Tanniis  el  Haddad,  who  died  a  few  years  ago, 
venerated  and  beloved  by  all  sects  and  classes  of  the 
people,  having  been  for  many  years  deacon  of  the 
'Beirut  Church,  and  his  wife,  Im  Beshara,  still  lives, 
with  an  interesting  family. 

On  the  2 ist  of  Dec.,  1825,  Dr.  King  wrote  as  fol- 
lows :  "  I  spent  about  a  month  in  Tyre,  and  made 
some  efforts  to  establish  a  school  for  Tyrian  females, 
and  was  very  near  succeeding,  when  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal priests  rose  up  and  said,  '  It  is  by  no  means 
expedient  to  teach  women  to  read  the  word  of  God. 
It  is  better  for  them  to  remain  in  ignorance  than  to 


Arabic  Lord's  Prayer. 


UA    ii 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  1820   TO  1872.  49 

know  how  to  read  and  write.  They  are  quite  bad 
enough  with  what  little  they  now  know.  Teach  them 
to  read  and  write,  and  there  would  be  no  living  with 
them!'"  That  Tyrian  priest  of  fifty  years  ago,  v.as 
a  fair  sample  of  his  black-frocked  brethren  through- 
out Syria  from  that  time  to  this.  There  have  been 
a  few  worthy  exceptions,  but  the  Syrian  priesthood 
of  all  sects,  taken  as  a  class,  are  the  avowed  enemies 
of  the  education  and  elevation  of  their  people. 
Some  of  the  exceptions  to  this  rule  will  be  mention- 
ed in  the  subsequent  pages  of  this  volume. 

In  1826,  there  were  three  hundred  children  in 
the  Mission  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  Beirut. 

In  1827,  there  were  600  pupils  in  13  schools,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  girls!  In  view 
of  the  political,  social  and  religious  condition  of 
Syria  at  that  time,  that  statement  is  more  remark- 
able than  almost  any  fact-in  the  history  of  the  Syr- 
ian Mission.  It  shows  that  Mrs.  Bird  and  Mrs. 
Goodell  must  have  labored  to  good  purpose  in  per- 
suading their  benighted  Syrian  sisters  to  send  their 
daughters  to  school,  and  to  these  two  Christian 
women  is  due  the  credit  of  having  commenced  Wo- 
man's Work  for  Women  in  modern  times  in  Syria. 
In  that  same  year,  the  wives  of  Bishop  Dionysius 
Carabet  and  Gregory  Wortabet  were  received  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church  in  Beirut,  being  the  first 
spiritual  fruits  of  Women's  Work  for  Women  in 
modern  Syria. 

During  1828  and  1829  the  Missionaries  tempo- 
rarily withdrew  to  Malta.  In  1833,  Dr.  Thomson 
3 


5Q        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  Dr.  Dodge  arrived  in  Beirut.  The  Mission  now 
consisted  of  Messrs.  Bird,  Whiting,  Eli  Smith,.  Drs. 
Thomson  and  Dodge.  In  a  letter  written  at  that 
time  by  Messrs.  Bird,  Smith  and  Thomson,  it  is  said, 
"  Of  the  females,  none  can  either  read  or  write,  or 
the  exceptions  are  so  very  few  as  not  to  deserve 
consideration.  Female  education  is  not  merely 
neglected,  but  discouraged  and  opposed."  They 
also  stated,  that  "  the  whole  number  of  native  chil- 
dren in  the  Mission  Schools  from  the  beginning  had 
been  650;  500  before  the  interruption  in  1828,  and 
1 50  since."  "  Female  education  as  such  is  yet  nearly 
untried." 

During  that  year  Mrs.  Thomson  and  Mrs.  Dodge 
commenced  a  school  for  girls  in  Beirut.  Dr.  Eli 
Smith  speaks  of  this  school  as  follows, 'in  the  Mem- 
oir of  Mrs.  S.  L.  Smith  :  "  A  few  girls  were  previously 
found  in  some  of  the  puttlic  schools  supported  by 
the  Mission,  and  a  few  had  lived  in  the  Mission 
families.  But  these  ladies  wished  to  bring  them 
more  directly  under  missionary  influence,  and  to 
confer  upon  them  the  benefit  of  a  system  of  instruc- 
tion adapted  to  females.  A  commencement  was 
accordingly  made,  by  giving  lessons  to  such  little 
girls  as  could  be  irregularly  assembled  for  an  hour 
or  two  a  day  at  the  Mission-house ;  such  an  informal 
beginning  being  not  only  all  that  the  ladies  had 
time  to  attempt,  but  being  also  considered  desirable 
as  less  likely  to  excite  jealousy  and  opposition.  For 
the  project  was  entered  upon  with  much  trembling 
and  apprehension.  Not  merely  indifference  to  female 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  1820   TO  1872.  5  i 

education  had  to  be  encountered,  but  strong  preju- 
dice against  it  existing  in  the  public  mind  from 
time  immemorial.  The  Oriental  prejudice  against 
innovations  from  any  quarter,  and  especially  from 
foreigners,  threatened  resistance.  The  seclusion  of 
females  within  their  own  immediate  circle  of  rela- 
tionship originally  Oriental,  but  strengthened  by 
Mohammedan  influence,  stood  in  the  way.  And 
more  than  all,  religious  jealousy,  looking  upon  the 
missionaries  as  dangerous  heretics,  and  their  in- 
fluence as  contamination,  seemed  to  give  unequivo- 
cal warning  that  the  attempt  might  be  fruitless. 
But  the  missionaries  were,  not  aware  of  the  hold 
they  had  gained  upon  the  public  confidence.  The 
event  proved  in  this,  as  in  many  other  missionary 
attempts,  that  strong  faith  is  a  better  principle  to 
act  upon  in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  than 
cautious  calculation.  Even  down  to  the  present 
time  (1840)  it  is  not  known  that  a  word  of  oppo- 
sition has  been  uttered  against  the  school  which  was 
then  commenced. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  S.  L.  Smith  in  Beirut 
in  January,  1834,  she  found  some  six  or  eight  girls 
assembled  every  afternoon  in  Mrs.  Thomson's  room 
at  the  Mission  house,  receiving  instruction  in  sewing 
and  reading.  One  was  far  enough  advanced  to  aid 
in  teaching,  and  the  widow  of  Gregory  Wortabet 
occasionally  assisted.  On  the  removal  of  Mrs. 
Thomson  and  Mrs.  Dodge  to  Jerusalem,  the  entire 
charge  of  the  school  devolved  upon  Mrs.  Smith, 
aided  by  Mrs.  Wortabet.  Especial  attention  was 


52        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

given  to  reading,  sewing,  knitting  and  good  behav- 
ior. In  November,  1835,  Miss  Rebecca  Williams 
arrived  in  Beirut  as  an  assistant  to  Mrs.  Smith. 
The  school  then  increased,  and  in  the  spring  of  1836 
an  examination  was  held,  at  which  the  mothers  of 
the  children  and  some  other  female  friends  were 
present.  The  scholars  together,  amounted  to  up- 
wards of  forty  ;  the  room  was  well-filled,  "presenting 
a  scene  that  would  have  delighted  the  heart  of  many 
a  friend  of  missions.  Classes  were  examined  in 
reading,  spelling,  geography,  first  lessons  in  arithme- 
tic, Scripture  questions,  the  English  language,  and 
sacred  music,  and  the  whole  was  closed  by  a  brief 
address  from  Mrs.  Dodge.  The  mothers  then  came 
forward  of  their  own  accord,  and  in  a  gratifying 
manner  expressed  their  thanks  to  the  ladies  for 
what  they  had  done  for  their  daughters."  Of  the 
pupils  of  this  school,  the  greater  part  were  Arabs  of 
the  Greek  Church ;  two  were  Jewesses ;  and  some 
were  Druzes ;  and  at  times  there  were  eight  or  ten 
Moslems. 

A  Sabbath  School,  with  five  teachers  and  thirty 
pupils,  was  established  at  the  same  time,  the  majority 
of  the  scholars  being  girls.  A  native  female  prayer- 
meeting  was  also  commenced  at  this  time,  conducted 
by  three  missionary  ladies  and  two  native  Protestant 
women.  At  times,  as  many  as  twenty  were  present, 
and  this  first  female  prayer-meeting  in  Syria  in 
modern  times,  was  attended  with  manifest  tokens 
of  the  Divine  blessing. 

As  has   been  already   stated,  the   seclusion  of 


.     WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  1820  TO  1872.  53 

Oriental  females  renders  it  almost  impossible  for  a 
male  missionary  to  visit  among  them  or  hold  reli- 
gious meetings  exclusively  for  women.  This  must  be 
done,  if  at  all,  by  the  missionary's  wife  or  by  Chris- 
tian women  devoted  especially  -to  this  work.  It  was 
true  in  1834,  and  it  is  almost  equally  true  in  1873. 
The  Arabs  have  a  proverb,  "The  tree  is  not  cut 
down,  but  by  a  branch  of  itself;"  /.  e.  the  axe 
handle  is  of  wood.  So  none  can  reach  the  women 
of  Syria  but  women.  The  Church  of  Rome  under- 
stands this,  and  is  sending  French,  Italian  and 
Spanish  nuns  in  multitudes  to  work  upon  the  girls 
and  women  of  Syria,  and  the  women  of.  the  Syria 
Mission,  married  and  unmarried,  have  done  a  noble 
work  in  the  past  in  the  elevation  and  education  of. 
their  Syrian  sisters.  And  in  this  connection  it  should 
be  observed,  that  a  sine  qua  non  of  efficient  useful- 
ness among  the  women  of  Syria,  is  that  the  Christian 
women  who  labor  for  them  should  know  the  Arabic 
language.  Ignorance  of  the  language  is  regarded 
by  the  people  as  indicating  a  want  of  sympathy  with 
them,  and  is  an  almost  insuperable  barrier  to  a  true 
spiritual  influence.  The  great  work  to  be  done  for 
the  women  of  the  world  in  the  future,  is  to  be  done 
in  their  own  mother-tongue,  and  it  would  be  well 
that  all  the  Female  Seminaries  in  foreign  lands 
should  be  so  thoroughly  supplied  with  teachers,  that 
those  most  familiar  with  the  native  language  could 
be  free  to  devote  a  portion  of  their  time  to  labors 
among  the  native  women  in  their  homes. 

In  1834  and  1835  Mrs.  Dodge  conducted  a  school 


54 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS 


for  Druze  girls  in  Aaleih,  in  Lebanon.  This  School 
in  Aaleih,  a  village  about  2300  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  was  once  suddenly  broken  up.  Not  a 
girl  appeared  at  the  morning  session.  A  rumor  had 
spread  through  the  village,  that  the  English  fleet 
had  come  up  Mount  Lebanon  from  Beirut,  and  was 
approaching  Aaleih  to  carry  off  all  the  girls  to  Eng- 
land !  The  panic  however  subsided,  and  the  girls 
returned  to  school.  In  1836  Mrs.  Hebard  and  Mrs. 
Dodge  carried  on  the  work  which  Mrs.  Smith  had 
so  much  loved,  and  which  was  only  temporarily  in- 
terrupted by  her  death. 

In  1837,  Mrs.  Whiting  and  Miss  Tilden  had  an 
interesting  school  of  Mohammedan  girls  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Mrs.  Whiting  had  several  native  girls  in 
her  own  family. 

In  reply  to  certain  inquiries  contained  in  a  note 
I  addressed  to  Miss  T.  she  writes :  "  I  arrived  in 
Beirut,  June  16,  1835.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiting  in 
Jerusalem  were  desirous  that  I  should  take  a  small 
school  that  Mrs.  Whiting  had  gathered,  of  Moham- 
medan girls.  She  had  in  her  family  two  girls  from 
Beirut,  Salome,  (Mrs.  Prof.  Wortabet,)  and  Hanne, 
(Mrs.  Reichardt.)  There  were  in  school  from  12  to 
20  or  more  scholars,  all  Moslems.  Only  one  Chris- 
tian girl  could  be  persuaded  to  attend.  I  think  that 
the  inducement  they  had  to  send  their  daughters 
was  the  instruction  given  in  sewing  and  knitting, 
free  of  expense  to  them.  Mrs.  Whiting  taught  the 
same  scholars  on  the  Sabbath.  The  Scripture  used 
in  their  instruction,  both  week  days  and  on  the  Sab- 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FROM  1820   TO  1872.  55 

bath,  was  the  Psalms.  After  a  year  and  a  half  I  went 
to  Beirut  and  assisted  in  the  girl's  school,  which 
was  somewhat  larger  and  more  promising.  Miss 
Williams  had  become  Mrs.  Hebard,  and  Miss  Badger 
from  Malta  was  teaching  at  the  time.  Mrs.  Smith's 
boarding  scholar  Raheel,  was  with  Mrs.  Hebard.  I 
suppose  that  female  education  in  the  family  was 
commenced  in  Syria  by  Mr.  Bird,  who  taught  the 
girl  that  married  Demetrius.  (Miss  T.  probably 
meant  to  say  Dr.  Thomson,  as  Mariya,  daughter  of 
Yakob  Agha,  was  first  placed  in  his  family  by  her 
father  in  1834.)  The  girls  taught  in  the  different 
missionaries'  families  were  Raheel,  Salome,  Hanne, 
Khozma,  Lulu,  Kefa,  and  Susan  Haddad.  Schools 
were  taught  in  the  mountains,  "and  instruction  given 
to  the  women,  and  meetings  held  with  them  as  the 
ladies  had  strength  and  opportunity,  at  their  differ- 
ent summer  residences.  The  day  scholars  were 
taught  in  Arabic,  and  the  boarding  scholars  in 
Arabic  and  English.  I  taught  them  Colburn's 
Arithmetic.  I  taught  also  written  arithmetic, 
reading,  etc.,  in  the  boys'  school." 

In  1841,  war  broke  out  between  the  Druzes  and 
Maronites,  and  the  nine  schools  of  the  Mission,  in- 
cluding the  Male  Seminary  of  31  pupils,  the  Girls' 
School  of  25  pupils,  and  the  Druze  High  School  in 
Deir  el  Kamr,  were  broken  up. 

In  1842,  the  schools  were  resumed.  In  twelve 
schools  were  279  pupils,-of  whom  52  were  girls,  and 
twelve  young  girls  were  living  as  boarders  in  mission 
families. 


56  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

In  1843,  there  were  thirteen  schools  with  438  pu- 
pils, and  eleven  young  girls  in  mission  families. 

During  the  year  1844,  186  persons  were  publicly 
recognized  as  Protestants  in  Hasbeiya.  Fifteen  wo- 
men attended  a  daily  afternoon  prayer-meeting,  and 
expressed  great  surprise  and  delight  at  the  thought 
that  religion  was  a  thing  in  which  women  had  a 
share  !  A  fiery  persecution  was  commenced  against 
the  Protestants,  who  all  fted  to  Abeih  in  Lebanon. 
On  their  return  they  were  attacked  and  stoned  in 
the  streets,  and  Deacon  Fuaz  was  severely  wounded. 

In  1845,  Lebanon  was  again  desolated  with  civil 
war,  the  schools  were  suspended,  and  the  instruction 
of  182  girls  and  424  boys  interrupted  for  a  time. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
MRS.  WHITING'S  SCHOOL. 

TN  1846,  Mrs.  Whiting  commenced  a  girls'  day- 
school  in  her  family  at  Abeih,  and  in  Beirut  there 
were  four  schools  for  boys  and  girls  together,  and 
one  school  for  girls  alone.  In  18  Mission  schools 
there  were  144.  girls  and  384  boys.  This  girls'  school 
in  Abeih  in  1846  was  taught  by  Salome  (Mrs.  Wor- 
tabet)  and  Hanne,  (Mrs.  Reichardt,)  the  two  oldest 
girls  in  Mr.  Whiting's  family.  It  was  impossible  to 
begin  the  school  before  August  1st,  as  the  houses  of 
the  village  which  had  been  burned  in  the  war  of  the 
preceding  year  had  not  been  rebuilt,  and  suitable  ac- 
commodations could  not  readily  be  found.  During 
the  summer  there  were  twelve  pupils,  and  in  the  fall 
twenty-five,  from  the  Druze,  Maronite,  Greek  Catho- 
lic and  Greek  sects,  and  the  greatest  freedom  was 
used  in  giving  instruction  in  the  Bible  and  the  As- 
sembly's and  Watts'  Catechisms.  A  portion  of  every 
day  was  spent  in  giving  especial  religious  instruction, 
and  on  the  Sabbath  a  part  of  the  pupils  were  gather- 
ed into  the  Sabbath  School.  During  the  fall  a  room 
was  erected  on  the  Mission  premises  for  the  girls' 
school,  at  an  expense  of  100  dollars. 

The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Whiting  needs  no 
Introduction.     It  bears  a  melancholy  interest  from 


58        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  fact  that  the  beloved  writer  died  shortly  after- 
wards, at  Newark,  N.  J.,  May  i8th,  1873. 

"  My  first  introduction  to  the  women  of  Syria  was 
by  Mrs.  Bird,  mother  of  Rev.  Wm.  Bird  and  Mrs. 
Van  Lennep.  She  was  then  in  the  midst  of  her  lit- 
tle family  of  four  children.  I  daily  found  her  in  her 
nursery,  surrounded  by  native  women  who  came  to  her 
in  great  numbers,  often  with  their  sick  children.  They 
were  always  received  with  the  greatest  kindness  and 
ministered  to.  She  might  be  seen  giving  a  warm 
bath  to  a  sick  child,  or  waiting  and  watching  the  ef- 
fect of  other  remedies.  Mothers  from  the  neighbor- 
ing villages  of  Lebanon  were  allowed  to  bring  their 
sick  children  and  remain  for  days  in  her  house  until 
relief  was  obtained.  She  was  soon  known  through- 
out Beirut  and  these  villages  as  the  friend  of  the  suf- 
fering, and  I  have  ever  thought  that  by  these  Chris- 
tian self-denying  labors,  she  did  much  towards  gain- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  people.  And  who  shall  say 
that  while  good  Father  Bird  was  in  his  study  library 
among  the  '  Popes  and  Fathers/  preparing  his  con- 
troversial work  '  The  Thirteen  Letters/  this  dear  sis- 
ter, by  her  efforts,  was  not  making  a  way  to  the 
hearts  of  these  people  for  the  reception  of  gospel 
truth,  which  has  since  been  preached  so  successfully 
in  the  neighboring  villages  of  Lebanon  ? 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1834,  Mr.  Whiting  was  removed 
to  the  Jerusalem  station.  I  found  the  women  ac- 
cessible and  ready  to  visit  me,  and  invite  me  to  their 
houses,  but  unwilling  to  place  their  girls  under  my  in- 
struction. All  my  efforts  for  some  time  were  fruit- 


MRS.    WHITING'S  SCHOOL, 


59 


less.  Under  date  of  Aug.  22,  I  find  this  entry  in  Mr. 
Whiting's  journal :  "  During  the  past  week,  three  lit- 
tle Moslem  girls  have  been  placed  under  Mrs.  Whit- 
ing's instruction  for  the  purpose  of  learning  to  read 
and  sew.  They  seem  much  pleased  with  their  new 
employment,  and  their  parents,  who  are  respectable 
Moslems,  express  great  satisfaction  in  the  prospect 
of  their  learning.  They  say,  in  the  Oriental  style 
that  the  children  are  no  longer  theirs,  but  ours,  and 
that  they  shall  remain  with  us  and  learn  everything 
we  think  proper  to  teach  them.  This  event  excited 
much  talk  in  the  city,  particularly  among  the  Moslem 
mothers.  The  number  of  scholars,  chiefly  Moslem 
girls,  increased  to  twenty-five  and  thirty." 

At  a  later  date,  Jan.,  1836,  "one  of  the  girls  in 
Mrs.  Whiting's  school,  came  with  a  complaint  against 
a  Jew  who  had  been  attempting  to  frighten  her  away 
from  the  school  by  telling  her  and  her  uncle  (her 
guardian)  that  her  teacher  certainly  had  some  evil  de- 
sign, and  no  doubt  intended  to  select  the  finest  of  the 
girls,  and  send  them  away  to  the  Pasha,  and  that  it 
was  even  written  so  in  the  books  which  she  was  teach- 
ing the  children  to  read.  Whether  the  Jew  has  been 
set  up  by  others  to  tell  the  people  this  absurd  non- 
sense, I  cannot  say,  but  certainly  it  is  a  new  thing  for 
Jews  to  make  any  opposition,  or  to  show  any  hostili- 
ty to  us.  And  this  looks  very  much  like  the  evil 
influence  which  has  been  attempted  in  another  quar- 
ter." 

"  March  7.  Yesterday  Mrs.  W.  commenced  a 
Sunday  school  for  the  pupils  of  her  day  school 


60  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

* 

They  were  much  delighted.  They  began  to  learn 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount." 

"  Sept.  7.  Had  a  visit  from  two  Sheikhs  of  the 
Mosque  of  David.  One  of  them  inquired  particu- 
larly respecting  Mrs.  Whiting's  school  for  Moslem 
girls,  and  wished  to  know  what  she  taught  them  to 
read.  I  showed  him  the  little  spelling-book  which 
we  use,  with  which  he  was  much  pleased  and  begged 
me  to  lend  it  to  him.  I  gave  him  one,  with  a  copy 
of  the  Psalms,  which  he  wished  to  compare  with  the 
Psalms  of  David  as  the  Moslems  have  them.  He 
invited  me  strongly  to  come  and  visit  him,  and  to 
bring  Mrs.  Whiting  to  see  his  family." 

The  school  continued  with  little  interruption  un- 
til October  3d,  when-  Miss  Tilden  arrived  and  had 
the  charge  of  the  school  for  nearly  two  years.  I  left  in 
feeble  health,  with  Mr.  Whiting,  for  the  United  States, 
where  we  spent  more  than  one  year.  Miss  Tilden 
during  our  absence  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
boys'  school  in  Beirut.  On  my  return  the  Moslem 
school  was  not  resumed,  and  soon  after  Mr.  Whiting 
was  again  transferred  to  the  Abeih  station. 

My  work  in  the  family  school  began  in  October, 
!835,  when  Salome  Carabet  and  Hanne  Wortabet 
were  placed  by  their  parents  in  our  family  school. 
We  afterwards  added  to  the  number  Melita  Carabet, 
and  the  two  orphan  girls  Sada  and  Ruf  ka  Gregory. 
These  two  were  brought  to  us  in  a  very  providential 
way.  They  were  the  children  of  Yakob  Gregory,  a 
respectable  Armenian  well  known  in  Beirut. 

He  had  two  children,  and  when  these  were  quite 


MRS.    WHITING'S  SCHOOL.  6 1 

young,  he  left  his  wife,  and  nothing  was  heard  of 
him  afterwards.  The  mother  died  soon  after  and 
left  the  children  in  the  care  of  the  American  Mission 
and  the  Armenian  Bishop.  The  old  grandmother, 
who  was  in  Aleppo,  on  hearing  of  her  death,  soon 
returned  to  Beirut  to  look  after  the  children.  She 
was  allowed  to  visit  them  in  the  Bishop's  family, 
where  they  were  cared  for,  and  one  day,  in  a  stealthy 
way,  she  took  Sada  into  the  city,  placed  her  in  the 
hands  of  a  Jew,  on  board  of  a  native  boat  bound  for 
Jaffa.  I  suppose  Sada  was  then  about  six  years  old. 
They  set  sail.  The  child  cried  bitterly  on  finding 
her  grandmother  was  not  on  board  as  she  had  prom- 
ised. There  was  on  board  the  boat  an  Armenian, 
well  acquainted  with  her  father,  who  inquired  of  her 
the  cause.  On  hearing  her  story  he  remonstrated 
with  the.  Jew,  who  said  she  had  been  placed  in  his 
hands  by  her  grandmother  to  be  sent  to  Jerusalem. 
On  their  arriving  at  Jaffa,  the  affair  was  made  known 
to  Mr.  Murad,  the  American  Consul.  He  sent  for 
the  Jew,  took  the  child  from  his  hands,  and  dismissed 
him,  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Whiting  in  Jerusalem  an  ac- 
count of  the  affair,  and  was  directed  by  him  to  send 
the  child  to  us.  Not  long  after,  her  grandmother 
came  to  Jerusalem  bringing  Rufka.  She  tried  to 
interest  the  Armenian  Convent  in  her  behalf.  Here 
I  find  an  extract  from  Mr.  Whiting's  journal,  which  will 
give  you  all  of  interest  on  this  point.  "  After  being 
out  much  of  the  morning,  I  returned  and  found  the 
grandmother  of  little  Sada,  who  had  brought  her 
little  sister  Rufka  to  leave  her  with  us.  She  had  a 


62  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

quarrd  with  the  convent,  and  fled  for  refuge  to  us. 
We  cannot  but  be  thankful  that  both  these  little 
orphans  are  at  length  quietly  placed  under  our  care 
and  instruction." 

The  parents  of  three  of  the  girls  in  our  family, 
being  Protestants,  always  gave  their  sanction  to  our 
mode  of  instructing  and  training  them.  Bishop 
Carabet  likewise  aided  us  in  every  way  in  his  power, 
and  ever  seemed  most  grateful  for  what  I  was  doing 
for  his  daughters.  In  his  last  sickness,  when  en- 
feebled by  age,  I  often  visited  him.  Once  on  going 
into  his  room,  he  was  seated  as  usual  on  his  Turk- 
ish rug.  One  of  the  family  rose  to  offer  me  a  chair, 
I  said,  tl  let  me  sit  near  you  on  your  rug,  that  I  may 
talk  to  you."  With  much  emotion  he  replied,  "  fns/i- 
tillah  tukodee  jenb  il  Messiah  fe  melakoot  is  sema  !  " 
"  God  grant  that  you  may  sit  by  the  side  of  Christ 
in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  ! " 

We  were  from  time  to  time  encouraged  by  to- 
kens of  a  work  of  God's  Spirit  in  their  hearts. 
Melita  Carabet  was  the  first  to  indulge  a  hope  in 
Christ,  and  united  with  the  Church  in  Abeih.  Sa- 
lome united  in  Beirut;  Hanne  in  Hasbeiya,  where 
her  brother,  Rev.  John  Wortabet,  was  pastor.  Sada 
was  received  by  Mr.  Calhoun  at  Abeih,  soon  after 
Mr.  Whiting's  death,  and  Rufka  in  later  years  united 
with  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Alexandria, 
Egypt-  I  have  ever  thought  these  girls  were  under 
great  obligations  to  the  American  Churches  and  the 
American  Mission,  who  for  so  many  years  supported 
and  instructed  them,  and  I  have  ever  tried  to  im- 


MRS.    WHITING'S  SCHOOL.  63 

press  upon  them  a  sense  of  their  obligation  to  im- 
part to  others  of  their  countrywomen  what  they 
had  received.  I  believe  as  early  as  1836,  the*y 
began  assisting  me  in  the  Moslem  school  for  girls 
in  Jerusalem,  in  which  they  continued  to  assist  Mis's 
Tilden  until  the  school  was  given  up. 

Soon  after  our  removal  to  Abeih,  October,  1844, 
we  established  a  day-school  for  girls  in  the  village 
on  the  Mission  premises,  of  which  Salome  and 
Hanne  had  the  entire  charge  under  my  superintend- 
ence. When  the  Station  at  Mosul  was  established, 
Salome  was  appointed  by  the  Mission  to  assist  Mrs. 
Williams  in  her  work  among  the  women,  in  which 
work  she  continued  until  her  marriage  with  Rev. 
John  Wortabet.  Melita  was  afterwards  appointed 
by  the  Mission  to  the  Aleppo  Station  to  assist  Mrs. 
Eddy  and  Mrs.  Ford  in  the  work,  and  so  they  were 
employed  at  various  stations  in  the  work  of  teach- 
ing, until  I  left  the  Mission.  I  have  kept-  up  a  con- 
tinual correspondence  with  them,  and  have  learned 
from  others  to  my  joy,  that  they  were  doing  the 
work  for  which  I  had  trained  them/' 

The  above  deeply  interesting  letter  from  Mrs. 
Whiting  is  enough  in  itself  to  show  what  an  amount 
of  patient  Christian  labor  was  expended  through  a 
course  of  many  years,  in  the  education  of  the  five 
young  Syrian  maidens  who  were  entrusted  in  the 
providence  of  God  to  her  care.  I  have  been  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  four  of  them  for  seventeen 
years,  and  can  testify,  as  can  many  others,  of  the 
good  use  they  have  made  of  their  high  opportunities. 


64 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


The  amount  of  good  they  have  accomplished  as 
teachers,  in  Abeih,  Jerusalem,  Deir  el  Komr,  Has- 
beiya,  Tripoli,  Aleppo,  Mosul,  Alexandria,  Cairo, 
Melbourne,  (Australia,)  and  in  the  Mission  Female 
Seminary  and  the  Prussian  Deaconesses'  Institute  in 
Beirut,  will  never  be  known  until  all  things  are  re- 
vealed. I  have  received  letters  from  several  of 
them,  which  I  will  give  in  their  own  language,  as 
they  are  written  in  English.  The  first  is  from 
Salome,  now  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Prof.  John  "Wor- 
tabet,  M.  D.,  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  in 
Beirut. 

"  I  do  not  consider  my  history  worth  recording, 
and  it  is  only  out  of  consideration  of  what  is  due  to. 
Mrs.  Whiting  for  the  labor  she  bestowed  upon  us, 
that  I  am  induced  to  take  up  my  pen  to  comply  with 
your  request.  I  was  taken  by  Mrs.  Whiting  when 
only  six  years  old,  together  with  Hannie  Worta~bet, 
who  was  five  years  old,  to  be  brought  up  in  her  fam- 
ily, she  having  no  children  of  her  own.  Owing  part- 
ly to  the  nature  of  the  religious  instruction  we  re- 
ceived, and  partly  to  my  own  timid  sensitive  nature, 
I  was,  from  time  to  time  for  many  years,  under  deep 
spiritual  terrors,  without  any  saving  result.  When 
I  was  about  sixteen,  a  revival  of  religion  took  place, 
under  whose  influence  I  was  also  brought.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  was  my  spiritual  adviser,  and  although  my 
mind  groped  in  darkness,  and  bordered  on  despair 
for  many  weeks,  I  hope  I  was  then  led  to  put  my 
trust  in  Jesus,  and  if  ever  I  am  saved,  my  only  hope 


MRS.    WHITING'S  SCHOOL.  65 

now  is,  and  ever  shall  be,  in  the  merits  of  Jesus' 
blood  and  His  promises." 

The  next  letter  is  from  Melita  Carabet,  daughter 
of  the  Armenian  Bishop  Dionysius  Carabet,  who  be- 
came a  Protestant  in  1823.  She  writes  as  follows  : 

"  Nothing  could  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to 
comply  with  your  request,  and  thereby  recall  some 
of  the  happy  days  and  incidents  of  my  childhood  and 
youth,  spent,  under  the  roof  of  my  godly  teachers, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiting.  I  ought  to  remember  them 
as  far  back  as  at  the  baptismal  font,  for  I  heard 
afterwards  that  they  were  both  present  on  the  occa- 
sion, which  took  place  in  Malta,  where  I  was  born. 
But  as  my  memory  does  not  carry  me  back  so  far,  I 
must  date  my  recollections  from  the  time  I  was  five 
years  of  age,  when  I  came  to  live  in  their  family.  I 
can  distinctly  recollect  the  first  texts  of  Scripture 
and  verses  of  hymns  that  dear  Mrs.  Whiting  taught 
my  young  lips  to  repeat,  and  my  little  prayer  which 
I  used  to  say  at  her  knees  on  going  to  bed,  I  still  re- 
peat to  this  day,  "  Now  I  lay  me,''  etc.  One  inci- 
dent which  happened  about  a  year  later,  was  so  deep- 
ly impressed  on  my  memory,  and  had  such  an  effect 
upon  me  at  the  time,  that  I  must  mention  it.  It  was 
this.  Mrs.  Whiting  had  given  us  girls  (we  were  five  in 
number,  my  sister  Salome,  and  Hannie,  Dr.  Worta- 
bet's  sister,  and  Sada  and  Rufka  Gregory)  some  raisins 
to  pick  ove  r  preparatory  to  making  cake.  I  stole 
an  opportunity  after  a  while,  to  slip  about  a  dozen 
of  these  raisins  into  my  pocket.  No  one  saw  me  do 
it,  but  from  the  moment  I  had  done  it,  I  began  to 


66  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

feel  very  unhappy,  and  repented  the  deed.  My  com- 
panions went  out  to  play,  but  I  could  not  join  in 
their  sports.  My  heart  was  too  heavy.  I  sat 
mourning  over  my  sin,  and  could  eat  no  supper,  and 
had  no  rest  until  I  had  made  a  full  confession  to 
Mrs.  Whiting  at  bed-time.  She  prayed  and  wept 
-over  me,  and  somehow  I  was  comforted  and  went  to 
my  little  bed  much  happier. 

"  I  remember  nothing  more  until  a  much  later 
period,  when  I  was  about  the  age  of  twelve.  About 
this  time,  there  was  a  great  awakening  among  the 
young  girls  in  some  of  the  Mission  families.  Mr. 
Calhoun's  prayers  and  advice  were  very  much  so- 
licited and  sought,  in  guiding  and  praying  with  the 
young  inquirers.  One  Sunday  as  I  was  reading  the 
little  tract  "  The  Blacksmith's  wife,"  (which  I  have 
kept  to  this  day,)  I  felt  a  great  weight  and  sense  of 
sin.  I  trace  my  conversion  to  the  reading  of  this 
tract.  It  was  not  long  before  I  found  peace.  I  have 
often  since  longed  for  those  days  and  hours  of  sweet 
communion  with  my  Saviour.  I  joined  the  Church  a 
very  short  time  after  this,  and  at  this  early  age  was 
given  charge  of  a  Bible  class  in  Abeih. 

"  Now  I  must  pass  over  a  few  more  years,  when 
I  went  to  Hasbeiya,  to  spend  a  little  time  with  my  sis- 
ter Salome,  now  wife  of  Dr.  John  Wortabet,  who  was 
appointed  pastor  of  the  little  Protestant  Church  there. 
I  spent  one  year  of  my  life  here,  during  which  time 
I  took  charge  of  a  little  day  school  for  girls  in  my 
sister's  house.  Dr.  Wortabet's  sister  Hannie  had 
opened  this  school  some  years  before  I  came.  I  do 


MRS.   WHITING'S  SCHOOL.  6/ 

not  remember  the  number  of  pupils,  but  there  were 
five  little  Moslem  princesses,  grandchildren  of  the 
great  Emir  "  Saad-ed-Deen,"  who  was  called  some 
years  later  to  Constantinople  to  be  punished  for 
having  spoken  disrespectfully  of  Queen  Victoria. 
These  little  princesses  were  regular  attendants  at  the 
school,  and  learned  to  read  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  studied  Watts'  Catechism  with  the  rest  of  the 
Christian  children.  I  had  also  charge  of  a  Bible 
class  for  women,  who  used  to  meet  once  a  week  in 
the  Protestant  Church.  This  was  before  the  massa- 
cre of  1860.  The  rest  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in 
teaching  in  Beirut.  Since  the  massacres,  I  have 
been  teaching  the  orphans  in  the  Prussian  School, 
where  I  at  present  reside.  Indeed  it  has  been  my 
home  ever  since  I  undertook  this  work  which  I  love 
dearly,  and  which  I  hope  to  continue  so  long  as  the 
Lord  sees  fit,  and  gives  me  strength  to  work  for 
Him." 

I  am  permitted  to  make  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  written  by  Melita  to  Mrs.  Whiting,  in 
February,  1868.  I  give  the  exact  language,  as  the 
letter  is  written  in  English : 

PRUSSIAN  INSTITUTION,  BEIRUT,         ) 
February  23,  1868.  J 
MY  DEAR  MRS.  WHITING— 

It  is  so  cold  this  morning  that  I  can  with  difficulty  hold  my  pen. 
It  has  been  a  very  cold  and  stormy  month,  and  there  seems  no  pros- 
pect of  fair  weather  yet.  The  snow  on  the  mountains  is  as  low  as 
the  lowest  hills,  and  I  pity  the  poor  creatures  who  must  be  suffering 
in  consequence.  J.  enjoys  the  weather  very  much  ;  indeed  he  seems 
BO  exhilarated  and  invigorated  by  it  that  one  could  almost  wish  it  to 


68        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

last  on  his  account,  but  I  must  say  that  I  wish  it  was  over,  and  the 
warm  sunbeams  shedding  their  genial  rays  again  upon  the  cold  frozen 
earth. 

Trouble  and  grief  are  such  a  common  complaint  at  present  that 
you  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  me  relate  my  share  of  them.  I  have 
indeed  had  my  full  share,  and  you  would  say  so  too  had  you  seen  how 
I  was  occupied  during  my  holidays  last  summer,  in  taking  care  of  my 
ill  and  suffering  brother.  And  aside  from  my  fatigue,  for  I  was  always 
on  my  feet  until  two  or  three  hours  after  midnight,  quite  alone  with 
him — merely  to  witness  such  indescribable  suffering  as  he  went  through, 
was  more  than  is  generally  allotted  to  human  beings  on  earth.  He 
had  been  unwell  for  some  time  previous,  and  had  been  advised  by 
the  Doctor  to  go  up  to  the  mountains,  so  Mr.  Calhoun  kindly  offered 
him  a  place  in  the  Seminary,  where  he  could  stop  until  hisiiealth  was 
recruited,  and  in  the  meantime  give  a  couple  of  English  lessons  dur- 
ing the  day  to  the  boys  in  the  Seminary.  He  lodged  with  the  Theo- 
logical students  in  a  little  room  above  the  school,  but  he  had  not 
been  up  there  more  than  a  week,  when  his  whole  body  became  sud- 
denly covered  with  a  burning  eruption  that  was  always  spreading  and 
increasing  in  size.  He  could  neither  lie  nor  sit  in  any  possible  posi- 
tion, and  was  racked  with  pains  that  seemed  at  times  well  nigh  driving 
him  mad.  I  trembled  for  his  reason,  and  was  so  awed  and  terrified  by 
the  sight,  that  I  was  in  danger  of  losing  mine  as  well.  No  one  would 
come  near  him,  and  Mrs.  Calhoun  had  kindly  asked  me  to  come  and 
spend  the  holidays  with  them,  so  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  nurse  and  take 
care  of  him.  I  used  to  go  to  him  in  the  morning  as  soon  as  I  got  up, 
and  sit  (or  stand)  up  with  him  until  two  or  three  o'clock  at  night, 
dressing  his  sores ;  running  down  only  occasionally  for  my  meals,  and 
with  my  little  lantern  coming  down  in  the  dead  of  night,  all  alone, 
to  lay  my  weary  head  and  aching  heart  and  limbs  on  my  bed  for  a 
little  rest.  But  not  to  sleep,  for  whenever  I  closed  my  eyes,  I  had 
that  eternal  picture  and  scene  of  suffering  before  me.  I  could  find 
no  one  who  was  willing  for  love  or  for  money  to  help  me  or  relieve 
me  for  one  night  or  day.  The  disease  was  so  offensive  as  well  as 
frightful,  that  no  one  could  stop  in  the  room.  One  of  the  Prussian 
"  Sisters  "  who  went  up  with  me,  kindly  assisted  me  sometimes  until 
she  came  down.  In  this  state  did  J.  find  me  on  his  return  from  Eng- 
land. His  family  was  up  in  Aaleih,  and  he  used  to  ride'over  occa- 
sionally to  see  P.  and  prescribe  some  new  medicine  for  him,  but  his 


MRS.    IVIIf  TING'S  SCHOOL. 


69 


skill  was  baffled  with  this  terrifying  disease,  and  poor  P.  remained  in 
this  }'.gonizing  state  of  suffering  for  five  whole  months  without  leaving 
his  bed.  He  was  carried  down  on  a  litter -to  Beirut,  where  he  has 
been  since.  He  took  a  little  room  by  himself,  and  gives  lessons  in 
English  until  something  more  prosperous  turns  up  for  him.  Twenty 
years'  experience  seemed  to  be  added  to  my  life  in  those  three 
months  of  anxiety  I  went  through  last  summer  ;  and  what  a  picture  of 
suffering  and  grief  was  I,  after  this,  myself  !  No  wonder  if  I  feel 
entirely  used  up  this  winter,  and  feel  it  a  great  effort  to  live. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  my  ever  getting  back  my 
lost  property  from  that  man — as  he  has  long  since  left  the  country, 
and  is  said  to  be  a  great  scoundrel  and  a  very  dishonorable  man.  If 
he  were  not,  he  would  never  have  risked  the  earnings  of  a  poor 
orphan  girl  by  asking  for  it  on  the  eve  of  his  bankruptcy.  Had  I  my 
property  I  might  perhaps  have  given  up  teaching  for  a  while,  and 
gone  away  for  a  little  change  and  rest,  but  God  has  willed  it  other- 
wise, no  doubt  for  some  wise  purpose,  and  to  some  wise  end,  although 
so  difficult  and  incomprehensible  at  present.  It  is  all  doubtless  for 
the  trial  of  my  faith  and  trust  in  Him.  Let  me  then  trust  in  Him  ! 
Yea,  though  He  slay  me,  let  me  yet  trust  in  Him !  Has  He  ever  yet 
failed  me?  Has  He  not  proved  Himself  in  all  ages  to  be  the  Father 
and  the  God  of  the  orphan  and  the  widow  ?  He  must  see  that  I  need 
these  troubles  and  sorrows,  or  He  would  not  send  them,  for  my 
Father's  hand  would  never  cause  his  child  a  needless  tear.  A  bruised 
reed  He  will  not  break,  but  will  temper  the  storm  to  the  shorn  lamb  ; 
.1  will  then  no  longer  be  dejected  and  cast  down,  but  look  upward  and 
trust  in  my  Heavenly  Father,  feeling  sure  that  He  will  make  all  right 
in  the  end'. 

My  letter  is  so  sad  and  melancholy  that  I  cannot  let  it  go  without 
something  more  cheerful,  so  I  will  add  a  line  to  brighten  and  cheer  it 
up  a  little.  For  life,  with  all  the  bitterness  it  contains,  has  also  much 
that  is  agreeable  and  affords  much  enjoyment ;  for  there  is  a  wonder- 
ful elasticity  in  the  human  mind  which  enables  it,  when  sanctified  by 
divine  grace,  to  bear  up  under  present  ills.  So  with  all  my  griefs  and 
ills,  I  have  been  able  to  enjoy  myself  too  sometimes  this  winter.  I 
have  lately  attended  two  Concerts,  one  here,  given  by  the  Prussian 
Sisters,  for  the  benefit  of  the  new  Orphanage,  "  Talitha  Kumi,"  at 
Jerusalem,  lately  erected  by  the  Prussian  Sislers  there — and  one  given 
by  the  "  Sisters  of  Charity,"  for  the  benefit  of  the  orphans  and  poor 


JQ  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

of  this  town.  Daood  Pasha  most  generously  gave  up  the  large  hall 
in  his  mansion  for  the  occasion,  as  well  as  honoring  it  by  his  attend- 
ance. The  Concert  in  our  Institution  was  entirely  musical,  vocal  and 
instrumental.  All  the  Missionaries  came.  We  had  nearly  three  hun- 
dred tickets  sold  at  five  francs  apiece,  so  that  there  was  a  nice  little 
sum  added  to  the  Orphan's  Fund  at  Jerusale  m. 

Ever  your  affectionate  MELITA. 

Saada  Gregory  was  engaged  in  teaching  at  differ- 
ent times  in  Tripoli,  Aleppo,  Rasbeiya  and  Egypt. 
Her  school  in  Tripoli  was  eminently  successful,  and 
her  labors  in  Alexandria  were  characterized  by  great 
energy  and  perseverance.  She  kept  up  a  large  school 
even  when  suffering  from  great  bodily  pain.  She  is 
now  in  the  United  States  in  enfeebled  health. 

AMERICAN  MISSION  HOUSE,  ) 

ALEXANDRIA,  November  8,  1867.  ) 
Mv  DEAR  MRS.  WHITING, 

I'know  you  will  be  expecting  a  letter  from  me  soon,  partly  in  an- 
swer to  yours  sent  by  Mrs.  Van  Dyck,  and  especially  because  it  is  the 
day  on  which  you  expect  all  your  children  to  remember  you.  I  never 
do  forget  this  day,  but  this  time  there  are  special  reasons  for  my  re- 
membering it.  Whenever  the  day  has  come  around,  I  have  felt  more 
forcibly  than  at  others,  how  utterly  alone  I  have  been,  for  since  dear 
Mr.  Whiting  was  taken  away  from  us,  it  has  seemed  as  though  we 
were  made  doubly  orphans,  but  this  time  it  has  not  been  so.  I  think 
I  have  been  made  to  realize  that  I  have  a  loving  Father  in  heaven 
who  loves  and  watches  over  and  cares  for  me  more  than  ever  you  or 
Mr.  Whiting  did.  I  do  really  feel  now  that  God  has  given  me  friends, 
so  this  day  has  not  been  so  sad  a  one  to  me  as  it  usually  is.  Another 
source  of  thankfulness  to-day  is,  that  I  have  been  raised  up  from  a 
bed  of  pain  and  suffering  from  which  neither  I  nor  any  of  my  friends 
thought  I  ever  would  rise.  Weary  days  and  nights  of  pain,  when  it 
was"  torture  to  move  and  almost  impossible  to  lie  still,  and  when  it 
seemed  at  times  that  death  would  be  only  a  relief,  and  yet  here  I  am 
still  living  to  praise  Him  for  many,  many  mercies.  Mr.  Pinkerron 
waited  on  me  day  and  night,  often  depriving  himself  of  sleep  and  rest 


MRS.    WHITING'S  SCHOOL.  71 

in  order  to  do  it,  and  when  convalescence  set  in,  and  with  the  restless- 
ness of  a  sick  person,  I  used  to  fancy  I  would  be  more  comfortable  up 
stairs,  he  used  to  carry  me  up  and  down  and  gratify  all  my  whims. 
For  five  weeks  I  was  in  bed,  and  many  more  confined  to  my  room 
and  the  house.  But  the  greatest  reason  for  thankfulness'  is,  that  God 
has  in  His  great  mercy  brought  me  to  a  knowledge  of  Himself,  and  of 
my  own  lost  state  as  a  guilty  sinner.  It  was  while  lying  those  long 
weary  days  on  the  bed  that  I  was  made  to  see  that  for  ten  long  years 
I  had  been  deceiving  myself.  Instead  of  being  a  Christian  and  be- 
ing prepared  to  die,  1  was  still  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the 
bonds  of  iniquity,  and  if  God  had  taken  me  away  during  that  sickness, 
it  would  have  been  with  a  lie  in  my  right  hand.  Now  when  I  look 
back  on  those  long  years  spent  in  sin  and  in  self-deception,  I  wonder 
at  God's  loving  kindness  and  patience  in  sparing  me  still  to  show 
forth  in  me  His  goodness  and  forbearance.  Truly  it  is  of  His  mer- 
cies that  I  was  not  consumed.  How  often  I  taught  others  and  talked 
to  them  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  yet  I  had  not  that  love  myself. 
How  many  times  I  sat  down  to  His  table  with  his  children,  and  yet  I 
had  no  portion  nor  lot  in  the  matter.  Sometimes  when  I  think  how 
near  destruction  I  was,  with  literally  but  a  step  between  me  and 
death,  eternal  death,  and  yet  God  raised  me  up  and  brought  me  to 
Christ  and  made  me  love  Him,  and  how  ever  since  He  has  been  watch- 
:  ing  over  me  giving  me  the  measure  of  comfort  and  peace  that  I  enjoy 
and  giving  me  the  desire  to  know  and  love  Him  more,  I  wonder  at  my 
own  coldness,  at  the  frequency  with  which  I  forget  Him.  How 
strong  sin  still  is  over  me,  how  prone  I  am  to  wander  away  from 
Christ  and  to  forget  His  love,  to  allow  sin  to  come  between  me  and 
Him,  and  yet  He  still  follows  me  with  His  love,  still  He  brings  me 
back  to  Him,  the  good  Shepherd.  Oh  !  if  I  could  live  nearer  Christ, 
if  I  could  realize  and  rejoice  in  His  love.  Now  when  I  think  how 
near  I  may  be  to  the  eternal  world,  that  at  any  moment  a  severe  at- 
tack  of  pain  may  come  on  which  will  carry  me  off,  it  is  good  to  know 
that  my  Saviour  will  be  with  me  ;  that  He  is  mine  and  I  am  His.  It 
is  not  easy  to  look  death  calmly  in  the  face  and  know  that  my  days 
are  numbered,  yet  can  I  not  participate  in  the  promise  that  He  Him- 
self will  come  and  take  me  to  be  with  Him  where  He  is.  I  would 
like  to  be  allowed  to  live  longer  and  be  permitted  to  bring  souls  to 
Christ,  but  I  feel  assured  that  He  will  do  what  is  best,  and  that  He 
will  not  call  me  away  as  long  as  He  has  any  work  for  me  to  do  here. 


72        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

I  have  a  feeling  that  this  will  be  my  last  letter  to  you,  and  I  now  take 
the  opportunity  of  thanking  you  for  all  you  have  done  for  me,  for  all 
the  care  you  bestowed  on  me,  the  prayers  you  have  offered  for  me,  and 
the  kind  thoughtfulness  you  still  manifest  for  my  welfare.  It  would 
be  a  comfort  to  me  if  I  could  see  and  talk  with  you  once  more,  but 
I  fear  that  will  never  be  in  this  world,  but  shall  we  not  meet  in  our 
Saviour's  presence,  purified,  justified  and  sanctified  through  His 
blood  ?  With  truest  love  and  gratitude 

I  remain  yours,  SAADA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DR.   DE   FQJIEST'S   WORK  IN  BEIRUT. 

TN  1847,  Dr-  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  commenced  their 
work  of  female  education,  receiving  two  young 
women  into  their  family.  In  13  Mission  schools  there 
were  163  girls  and  462  boys.  During  the  year  1847, 
six  schools  were  in  operation  in  connection  with  the 
Berrut  Station.  One  in  the  Mesaitebe  with  32  pupils, 
of  whom  10  were  girls.  This  school  was  promising 
and  15  of  the  pupils  could  read  in  the  Bible.  Anoth- 
er was  in  the  Ashrafiyeh,  with  50  pupils,  of  whom  12 
were  girls.  Nineteen  in  this  school  could  read  in  the 
Bible.  Another  was  on  the  Mission  premises  witn 
seventy  pupils.  Another  school,  south  of  the  Mis- 
sion premises,  had  60  pupils,  of  whom  .15  were  girls. 
In  addition  to  these  was  the  Female  School  with 
thirty  girls,  taught  by  Raheel. 

In  1848,  on  the  organization  of  the  first  Evan- 
gelical Church,  nineteen  members  were  received,  of 
whom  four  were  women.  Dr.  De  Forest  had  seven 
native  girls  in  his  family,  and  there  were  fifty-five 
girls  in  other  schools. 

In  1849,  Mrs.  Thomson  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  vis- 
ited Hasbeiya  to  labor  among  the  women,  by  whom 
they   were    received    with    great    cordiality.       The 
girls'  school  of  that  time  was  regularly  maintained 
4 


74  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  well  attended.  Dr.  De  Forest  had  thirteen  na- 
tive girls  boarders  in  his  family  in  Beirut,  and  Mr. 
Whiting  had  five. 

In  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Beirut  Station  for 
1850,  it  is  stated  that  "  a  more  prayerful  spirit  pre- 
vails among  the  brethren  and  sisters.  One  pleasing 
evidence  of  this  is  the  recent  establishment  of  a 
weekly  female  prayer-meeting,  which  is  attended  by 
all  the  female  members  of  the  Church.  Yet  it  is 
somewhat  remarkable  that  in  our  little  Church  there" 
is  so  small  a  proportion  of  females.  Unhappily,  only 
one  of  our  native  brethren  is  blessed  with  a  pious  wife . 
Some  of  them  are  surrounded  with  relatives  and 
friends  whose  influence  is  such  as  to  hinder  rather 
than  help  them  in  their  Christian  course,  and  in  the 
religious  training  of  their  children." 

This  difficulty  still  exists  in  all  parts  of  the  Pro- 
testant community,  not  only  in  Syria,  but  through- 
out the  Turkish  Empire,  and  probably  throughout 
the  missionary  world.  The  young  men  of  the  Pro- 
testant Churches  at  the  present  time  endeavor  to 
avoid  this  source  of  trial  and  embarrassment  by  mar- 
rying only  within  the  Protestant  community,  and  the 
rapid  growth  of  female  education  in  these  days  gives 
promise  that  the  time  is  near  when  .the  mothers  in 
Syria  will  be  in  no  respect  behind  the  fathers  in 
either  virtue  or  intelligence.  The  Beirut  Church 
now  numbers  107  members,  of  whom  57  are  men  and 
50  are  women. 

In  1851,  Miss  Anna  L.  Whittlesey  arrived  in  Bei- 
rut as  an  assistant  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  De  Forest,  and 


DR.  DEFORESTS  WORK  IN  BEIRUT. 


75 


died  in  a  year  less  one  day  after  her  arrival,  beloved 
and  lamented  by  all.  In  July  of  that  year  five  of 
the  women  in  Hasbeiya  united  with  the  Church. 

In  1852  and  1853  the  Female  Seminary  fh  Beirut 
reached  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  and  the  girls' 
schools  in  different  parts  of  the  land  were  well  attend- 
ed. Miss  Cheney"  arrived  from  America  to  supply 
Miss  Whittlesey's  place. 

In  1854,  Dr.  De  Forest  was  obliged  from  failing 
health,  to  relinquish  his  work  and  return  to  the 
United  States.  A  nobler  man  never  lived.  As  a 
physician  he  was  widely  known  and  universally  be- 
loved, and  as  a  teacher  and  preacher  he  exerted  a 
lasting  influence.  The  good  wrought  by  that  saint- 
ly man  in  Syria  will  never  be  fully  known  in  this 
world.  The  lovely  Christian  families  in  Syria,  whose 
mothers  were  trained  by  him  and  his  wife,  will  be  his 
monuments  for  generations  to  come.  It  is  a  com- 
mon remark  in  Syria,  that  the  great  majority  of  all 
Dr.  De  Forest's  pupils  have  turned  out  well. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  official  reports 
with  regard  to  the  Female  Seminary  of  Dr.  De 
Forest  in  Beirut  for  the  years  1847,  ^48,  and 
1849,  but  fr°m  the  Reports  made  by  Dr.  De  Forest 
himself  for  the  years  1850,  1852  and  1853,  I  make 
the  following  extracts : 

In  1850,  the  Doctor  writes:  "The  Seminary 
now  has  seventeen  pupils  including  two  Khozma  and 
Lulu,  who  act  as  teachers.  The  older  class  have 
continued  to  study  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  a  daily 
lesson,  and  have  nearly  finished  the  Old  Testament. 


76  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

They  have  studied  a  brief  Compend  of  History  in 
Arabic,  and  have  continued  Arithmetic  and. English. 
Compositions  have  been  required  of  them  weekly  in 
Arabic  until  last  autumn,  when  they  began  to  write 
alternately  in  English  and  Arabic.  A  brief  course 
of  Astronomy  was  commenced,  illustrated  by  Mat- 
tison's  maps,  given  by  Fisher  Howe,  Esq.,  of  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

"  Recently  the  pupils  have  been  invited  to  spend 
every  second  Sabbath  evening  with  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  in  conversation  respecting' some 
missionary  field  which  has  been  designated  pre- 
viously. The  large  missionary  map  is  hung  in  the 
sitting-room,  and  all  are  asked  in  turn  to  give  some 
fact  respecting  the  field  in  question.  Even  the 
youngest,  who  have  not  .  yet  learned  to  read  with 
facility  in  their  own  language,  furnish  their  mite  of 
information. 

"  The  instruction  in  this  school  has  been  given  by 
Dr..  and  Mrs.  De  Forest,  aided  by  Mrs.  De  Forest's 
parents  and  the  two  elder  pupils  who  have  rendered 
such  efficient  aid  heretofore.  The  pupils  of  all  the 
classes  have  made  good  progress  in  their  various 
studies,  and  their  deportment  has  been  satisfactory. 
They  are  gaining  mental  discipline  and  intellectual 
furniture,  and  have  acquired  much  evangelical 
knowledge.  Deep  seriousness  has  been  observed 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  elder  pupite  at  different 
times,  and  they  give  marked  and  earnest  attention 
to  the  preached  word. 

"  In  our  labors  for  the  reconstruction  of  society 


DR.  DE  FORESTS  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  77 

here,  we  feel  more  and  more  the  absolute  need  of  a 
sanctified  and  enlightened  female  influence ;  such 
an  influence  as  is  felt  so  extensively  in  America,  and 
whose  beneficent  action  is  seen  in  the  proper  train- 
ing of  children,  and  in  the  expulsion  of  a  thousand 
superstitions  from  the  land.  Christian  schools  seem 
the  most  evident?  means  of  securing  such  an  end. 
Commerce  and  intercourse  with  foreigners,  and 
many  other  causes  are  co-operating  with  missionary 
effort  to  enlighten  the  men  of  Beirut  and  its  vicinity, 
but  the  women,  far  more  isolated  than  in  America, 
are  scarcely  affected  by  any  of  these  causes,  and 
they  hinder  materially  the  moral  elevation  of  the 
other  sex.  Often  the  man  who  seems  full  of  intelli- 
gence and  enterprise  and  mental  enlargement  when 
abroad,  is  found  when  at  home  to  be  a  mere  super- 
stitious child;  the  prophecy  that  his  mother  taught 
him  being  still  the  religion  of  his  home,  and  the 
heathenish  maxims  and  narrow  prejudices  into 
which  he  was  early  indoctrinated  still  ruling  the 
house.  The  inquirer  after  truth  is  seduced  back  to 
error  by  the  many  snares  of  unsanctified  and  igno- 
rant companionship,  and  the  convert  who  did  run- 
well  is  hindered  by  the  benighted  stubbornness  to 
which  he  is  unequally  yoked. 

"  While  exerting  this  deleterious  influence  over 
their  husbands  and  children,  the  females  of  the  land 
have  but  little  opportunity  for  personal  improve- 
ment, and  are  not  very  promising  subjects  of  mis- 
sionary labor.  His  faith  must  be  strong  who  can 
labor  with  hope  for  the  conversion  of  women,  with 


78      THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

whom  the  customs  of  society  prohibit  freedom  of 
intercourse,  and  who  have  not  learning  enough  to 
read  a  book,  or  vocabulary  enough  to  understand 
a  sermon,  or  mental  discipline  enough  to  follow  con- 
tinuous discourse. 

In  the  Report  for  1852,  Dr.  De  Forest  writes: 
"At  the  date  of  our  last  Anrrual  Report,  Miss 
Whittl.esey  was  in  good  health,  was  rapidly  acquiring 
the  Arabic,  and  was  zealously  pressing  on  in  hei 
chosen  work,  with  well-trained  intellect,  steady  pur- 
pose and  lively  hope.  But  God  soon  called  her 
aw^iy,  and  she  departed  in  "  hope  of  eternal  life 
which  God  that  cannot  lie  promised  before  the  world 
began."  The  Female  Boarding  School  has  suffered 
much  from  the  loss  of  its  Principal,  but  the  same 
course  of  study  has  been  pursued  as  before,  though 
necessarily  with  less  efficiency.  One  of  the  assistant 
pupils,  (Lulu,)  who  has  been  relied  upon  for  much  of 
the  teaching,  and  superintendence  of  the  scholars, 
was  married  last  autumn  to  the  senior  tutor  of  the 
Abeih  Seminary.  The  number  of  pupils  now  in  the 
school  is  fifteen.  The  communication  of  Biblical 
and  religious  knowledge  has  been  a  main  object  of 
this  school.  All  the  pupils,  as  a  daily  lesson,  study 
the  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism,  first  in  Arabic 
with  proof-texts,  and  afterwards  in  English  with 
Baker's  Explanatory  Questions  and  Scripture  proofs, 
and  they  are  taught  a  brief  Historical  Catechism  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  The  first  of  proper 
school  hours  every  day  is  occupied  with  the  Script- 
ures by  all  the  school.  The  Epistles  to  the  Hebrews 


DR.  DE  FOREST'S  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  jg 

and  the  Romans  formed  the  subject  of  these  lessons 
until  the  autumn,  when  Mr.  Calhoun's  revised  edi- 
tion of  the  "  Companion  to  the  Bible"  was  adopted 
as  a  text-book,  and  the  Old  Testament  has  been 
studied  in  connection  with  that  work.  The  pupils 
all  attend  the  service  at  the  Mission  Chapel,  and 
have  lessons  appropriate  to  the  Sabbath  in  the  inter- 
vals of  worship. 

"The  evening  family  worship  is  in  Arabic,  and  is 
a  familiar  Bible  Class.  All  the  pupils  are  present, 
and  not  unfrequently  some  of  their  relatives  and 
other  strangers.  In  addition  to  this  religious  in- 
struction, the  several  classes  have  studied  the  Arabic 
and  English  languages,  some  of  them  writing  in 
both,  geography  and  history,  arithmetic  mental  and 
higher,  astronomy,  and  some  of  the  simple  works  on 
natural  philosophy  and  physiology.  Compositions 
have  been  required  in  Arabic  and  English.  The 
lessons  in  drawing,  commenced  by  Miss  Whittlesey, 
have  been  continued  under  the  instruction  of  Mrs. 
Smith,  and  plain  and  fancy  needle-work  have  been 
taught  as  heretofore. 

"To  those  who  have  watched  the  growth  qf  intel- 
lect, and  in  some  instances,  we  hope,  the  growth  of 
grace  in  these  few  pupils,  and  in  the  other  female 
boarding  scholars  in  some  of  the  mission  families, 
who  have  seen  the  pleasing  contrast  afforded  by 
Syrian  females  when  adorned  after  the  Apostolic 
recommendation  by  good  works  and  a  "  meek  and 
qufet  spirit/'  with  those  who  cover  empty  heads 
with  pearls  and  enrobe  untidy  persons  in  costly 


go  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

array, — who  have  rejoiced  to  see  one  and  another 
family  altar  set  up,  where  both  heads  of  the  family 
and  the  hearts  of  both  unite  in  acknowledging  God, 
— this  branch  of  our  labors  need  offer  no  further 
arguments  to  justify  its  efficient  prosecution. 

"  The  library  of  the  Seminary  consists  of  220 
school  books,  and  148  volumes  of  miscellaneous 
books,  chiefly  for  the  young.  The  school  has  6  large 
fine  maps,  and  5  of  Mr.  Bidwell's  Missionary  maps, 
and  1 6  of  Mattison's  astronomical  maps.  These 
maps  were  the  gifts  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Burgess  and  of 
Fisher-  Howe,  Esq.  The  school  has  a  pair  of  globes, 
one  Season's  machine,  one  orrery,  a  pair  of  gasome- 
ters, a  spirit-lamp  and  retort  stand,  a  centre  of 
gravity  apparatus,  a  capillary  attraction  apparatus, 
a  galvanic  trough,  a  circular  battery,  an  electro- 
magnet, a  horse  shoe  magnet,  a  revolving  magnet, 
a  wire  coil  and  hemispheric  helices,  and  an  electric 
shocking  machine."  - 

The  report  of  the  Female  Seminary  for  1853  is 
written  in  the  handwriting  of  Mrs.  De  Forest,  owing 
to  the  increasing  infirmity  of  Dr.  De  Forest's  health, 
and  this  report  has  a  sad  interest  from  its  being  the 
last  one  ever  dictated  by  Dr.  De  Forest. 

"  A  small  day-school  for  girls  has  been  taught  by 
one  of  the  pupils  in  Mrs.  Whiting's  family  during 
the  winter,  and  it  is  contemplated  to  continue  the 
school  hereafter  in  the  Girl's  School  house  on  the 
Mission  premises,  under  the  instruction  of  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  Female  Seminary.  The  demand  for  such 
instruction  for  girls  is  steadily  increasing. 


DX.  DE  FORESrs  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  gl 

"  The  teaching  force  of  the  Seminary  was  increased 
last  spring  by  the  arrival  of  Miss  Cheney,  who  enter- 
ed at  once  upon  the  duties  of  her  position,  devoting 
a  portion  of  her  time  to  the  acquisition  of  Arabic/ 
and  a  part  to  the  instruction  of  some  classes  in  Eng- 
lish. Still,  on  account  of  the  repeated  illnesses  of 
Dr.  De  Forest,  it  was  not  deemed  advisable  -to  re- 
ceive a  new  class  last  autumn.  The  only  girls  ad- 
mitted during  the  year  were  one  of  Mrs.  Whiting's 
pupils  who  was  transferred  to  the  Seminary  for  one 
year,  one  of  the  class  who  graduated  two  years  since, 
and  who  desired  to  return  for  another  year,  and 
Sara,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Butrus  Bistany.  These 
three  were  received  into  existing  classes,  while  it  was 
not  deemed  advisable  under  the  circumstances  to 
make  up  another  class  composed  of  new  pupils. 

v  "  The  course  of  instruction,  Biblical  and  other, 
has  been  much  the  same  as  that  hitherto  pursued. 
Miss  Cheney  commenced  "Watts  on  the  Mind,"  with 
some  of  the  older  pupils,  in  English.  All  the  pupils 
have  had  familiar  lessons  on  Church  History  in  Arab- 
ic, and  some  of  them  have  begun  an  abridged  work 
on  Moral  Philosophy.  Much  effort  has  been  bestow- 
ed upon  the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for  the  reading  of 
profitable  books,  and  a  number  of  the  girls  have 
read  the  whole  of  "  D'Aubign6's  History  of  the 
Reformation,"  and  other  history  with  Mrs.  De  For- 
est in  the  evening  class,  the  atlas  being  always  open 
before  them.  Mrs.  Smith  has  given  some  instruc- 
tion in  the  rudiments  of  drawing  to  a  part  of  the 
pupils,' and  Mrs.  Bird  and  Mrs.  Calhoun  have  given 


82  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

lessons  in  vocal  music,  for  which  some  of  the  pupils 
have  considerable  taste. 

.  "  After  completing  the  '  Companion  to  the  Bible' 
in  Arabic,  the  whole  school  were  engaged  daily  in  a 
Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  and  other  Biblical  and  re- 
ligious instruction  has  been  continued  as  heretofore. 
We  have  ever  kept  in  mind  the  necessity  of  not 
denationalizing  these  Arab  children,  and  we  believe 
that  this  desired  result  has  been  attained.  The  long 
vacation  of  six  weeks  in  the  spring,  and  the  same  in 
the  autumn,  the  commencement  of  all  instruction 
in  Arabic,  and  Jhe  preponderance  of  Arabic  study  in 
the  school,  have  contributed  to  this  result.  The 
older  pupils  have  attained  to  a  considerable  knowl- 
edge of  English,  giving  them  access  to  books  suit- 
able for  girls  to  read,  and  yet  Arabic  is  the  language 
of  the  school,  and  the  pupils  are  Syrians  still  fti 
dress  and  manners.  The  advantages  of  the  school 
are  more  and  more  appreciated  in  the  city,  and  the 
adjacent  mountains.  Many  were  exceedingly  earn- 
est in  offering  their  daughters  last  autumn,  both 
Protestant  and  other,  and  some  when  repulsed  at  the 
Seminary,  besought  the  mission  families  to  receive 
their  children." 

During  the  next  year,  the  school 'was  placed  in 
the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  under  the  charge 
of  Miss  Cheney.  A  class  of  eight  graduated,  and 
the  pupils  contributed  to  benevolent  objects  of  the 
fruits  of  their  industry,  over  1200  piastres,  or  about 
fifty  dollars. 

In  a  report  on  Education,  prepared  by  the-  Syria 


DR.  DE  FORESTS  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  83 

Mission  in  1855,  it  was  stated,  that  "without  enter- 
ing into  details  in  regard  to  the  course  of  study  pur- 
sued, we  are  happy  to  say  that  the  results  of  Di*  De 
Forest's  Seminary  were  very  gratifying,  and  proved, 
if  proof  were  needed,  that*  there  is  the  same  capa- 
city in  the  native  female  mind  of  the  country  that 
there  is  in  the  male,  and  that  under  proper  instruc- 
tion, and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  there  will  be 
brought  forward  a  class  of  intelligent,  pious  and  effi- 
cient female  helpers  in  the  great  work  of  evangeliz- 
ing this  community." 

The  hope  implied  in  the  above  sentence  with  re- 
gard to  the  raising  up  of  "  a  class  of  intelligent,  pious 
and  efficient  female  helpers,''  has  been  abundantly 
realized.  The  list  of  Dr.  De  Forest's  pupils  is  to.  a 
great  extent  the  list  of  the  leading  female  teachers 
and  helpers  in  all  the  various  departments  of  evan- 
gelic work  in  Syria. 

Not  having  access  to  the  records  of  the  Semi- 
nary as  they  have  been  lost,  I  have  obtained  from 
several  of  the  former  pupils  a  list  of  the  members 
of  the  various  classes  from  1848  to  1852.  The 
whole  number  of  pupils  during  that  period  was 
twenty-three.  Of  these  two  died  in  faith,  giving 
good  evidence  of  piety.  Of  the  twenty-one  who 
survive,  twelve  are  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Church,  and  nine  are  now  or  were  recently  engaged  in 
teaching,  although  nearly  twenty  years  have  elapsed 
since  they  graduated.  Twenty-one  are  at  the  head 
of  families,  esteemed  and  honored  in  the  communi- 


84  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

ties  where   they  reside.     The  names  of  the  whole 

class  are  as  follows  : 

* 

Ferha  Jimmal,  now  Kowwar  of  Nazareth. 

Sara    Haddad,  now  Myers  of^eirut. 

Sada  Sabunjy,  now  Barakat  of  Beirut. 

Sada  Haleby,  of  Beirut. 

Miriam  Tabet,  now  Tabet  of  Beirut. 

Khushfeh  Mejdelany,  now  Musully  of  Beirut. 

Khurma  Mejdelany,  now  Ashy  of  Hasbeiyas 

Mirta  Tabet,  now  Suleeby  of  B-hamdun. 

Feifun  Maluf,  of  Aramoon. 

Katrin  Roza,  of  Kefr  Shima. 

Mirta  Suleeby,  now  Trabulsy  of  Beirut. 

Sara  Suleeby,  of  Beirut. 

Esteer  Nasif,  now  Aieed  of  Suk  el  Ghurb. 

Hada  Suleeby,  now  Shidoody  of  Beirut. 

Helloon  Zazuah,  now  Zuraiuk  of  Beirut. 

Khushfeh  Towileh,  now  Mutr  of  Beirut. 

Fetneh  Suleeby,  now  Shibly  of  Suk  el  Ghurb. 

Akabir  Barakat,  now  Ghubrin  of  Beirut. 

Hamdeh  Barakat,  now  Bu  Rehan  of  Hasbeiya. 

Eliza  Hashem,  now  Khuri  of  Beirut. 

Rufka  Haddad,  (deceased). 

Sara  Bistany,  (deceased). 

Durra  Schemail,  of  Kefr  Shima. 

Two  of  the  most  successful  of  those  engaged  in 
teaching,  are  now  connected  with  the  British  Syrian 
Schools.  They  are  Sada  Barakat  and  Sada  el  Haleby. 
The  former  has  written  me  a  letter  in  English  in  re- 
gard to  her  own  history  and  religious  experience,  which 


DR.  DE  FOREST'S  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  85 

I  take  the  liberty  to  transcribe  here  verbatim  in  her 
own  language.  She  was  one  of  the  least  religious  of 
all  the  pupils  in  the  school,  when  she  was  first  received 
but  the  work  of  conviction  and  conversion  was  a 
thorough  one,  and  she  has  been  enabled  by  the  grace 
of  God  to  offer  constant  and  most  efficient  testimony 
to  the  reality  of  Christian  experience,  in  the  respon- 
sible position  she  has  been  called  upon  to  fill  in  the 
late  Mrs.  Thompson's  institution. 

SUK  EL  GHURB,  MT.  LEBANON,         ) 
September  3,  1872.  f 

DEAR  SIR — I  am  thankful  to  say,  in  reply  to  your  inquiry,  that  I 
was  not  persecuted  when  I  became  a  Protestant,  like  my  other  native 
sisters  were  when  they  became  Protestants,  because  I  was  very  young. 
I  was  about  four  years  old  when  my  father  died,  and  a  year  after,  my 
mother  married  a  Protestant  man.  I  came  to  live  with  my  mother  in 
her  new  home,  with  my  two  brothers.  It  was  very  hard  to  lose  a  dear 
loving  father  who  loved  his  children  so  much  as  my  mother  tells  me 
he  did.  But  the  Lord  does  everything  right,  because  if  the  Lord  had 
not  taken  my  father  away  from  us  I  should  not  have  known  the  true 
religion.  I  lived  in  my  step-father's  house  till  I  was  twelve  years  old. 
I  was  then  placed  in  Dr.  De  Forest's  school,  in  the  year  1848.  I  stayed 
there  four  years.  1  was  not  clever  at  my  studies,  and  especially  the 
English  language  was  very  difficult  for  me.  Even  until  now  I  re- 
member a  lesson  in  English  which  was  so  hard  for  me  that  I  was 
punished  twice  for  it,  and  I  could  not  learn  it.  Now  it  will  make  me 
laugh  to  think  of  these  few^  words,  which  I  could  not  translate  into 
Arabic  :  "  The  hen  is  in  the  yard."  My  mind  was  more  at  play  than 
at  learning.  I  was*  very  clever  at  housework,  and  at  dressing  dolls, 
and  was  always  the  leader  in  all  games.  From  that  you  can  see  that 
I  was  not  a  very  good  girl  at  school.  After  the  two  first  years  I  began 
to  think  how  nice  it  would  be  to  become  a  real  Christian  like  my  dear 
teacher  Dr.  De  Forest.  Then  I  used  to  pray,  and  read,  especially  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and  my  mind  was  so  busy  at  it  that  I  used  some- 
times to  leave  my  lesson  and  go  and  sit  alone  in  my  room.  Nobody 
knew  what  was  the  matter  with  me,  but  Dr.  De  Forest  used  to  ask  me 


86        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

why  I  did  not  go  to  school  ?  I  told  him  that  I  was  very  troubled,  and 
ne  told  me  to  pray  to  God  very  earnestly  to  give  me  a  new  heart.  I 
did  pray,  but  I  did  not  have  an  answer  then.  Three  or  four  times 
during  my  school  time  I  began  to  wish  to  become  a  Christian.  I 
prayed  and  was  very  troubled.*  I  wept  and  would  not  play,  and  as  I 
got  no  immediate  answer,  I  left  off  reading  and  sometimes  praying 
entirely.  Everybody  noticed  that  I  did  not  much  care  to  read,  and 
especially  a  religious  book.  I  felt  that  my  heart  had  grown  harder 
than  before  I  had  wished  to  become  a  Christian.  The  greatest  trial 
was  that  I  had  no  faith,  and  for  that  reason  I  used  not  to  believe  in 
prayer,  but  still  I  longed  to  become  a  real  Christian.  I  left  school  in 
the  year  1852,  and  went  to  live  .at  home  with  my  mother.  I  was 
taken  ill,  and  when  I  was  ill  I  was  very  much  afraid  of  death,  for  I 
felt  that  God  was  very  angry  with  me. 

Till  about  two  years  after  I  left  school,  I  had  no  religion  at  all. 
One  evening  a  young  man  from  Abeih  came  to  our  Rouse.  His  name 
is  Giurgius  el  Haddad,  who  is  now  Mr.  Calhoun's  cook.  After  a  little 
while  he  began  to  talk  about-religion,  and  to  read  the  book,  "  Little 
Henry  and  his  Bearer."  I  felt  very  much  ashamed  that  others  who 
lid  not  have  the  opportunity  to  learn  about  religion  had  religion,  and 
I,  who  had  learned  so  much,  had  none.  That  was  the  blessed  even- 
ing on  which  I  began  to  inquire  earnestly  about  my  salvation.  I  was 
three  months  praying  and  found  no  answer  to  my  prayers.  Christian 
friends  tried  to  lead  me  to  Christ,  but  I  could  not  take  hold  of  Him, 
till  He  Himself  appeared  to  my  soul  in  all  His  beauty  and  excellency. 
Before  I  found  peace  Dr.  Eli  Smith  and  Mr.  Whiting  wanted  me  to 
teach  a  day  school  for  them.  That  was  about  three  years  after  I  left 
off  learning.  "  Oh,"  thought  I,  "  how  can  I  teach  others  about  Christ 
when  I  do  not  know  Him  myself?  "  However  I  began  the  school  by 
opening  and  closing  it  with  prayer,  without  any  faith  at  all.  So  I 
began  by  reading  from  the  first  of  Matthew,  till  I^came  to  the  i6th 
chapter.  When  I  came  to  that  chapter  I  read  as  usual,  with  blinded 
eyes  ;  but  when  I  came  to  the  (i3th)  thirteen  verse,  and  from  there  to 
the  seventeenth,  where  it  says,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Barjona,  for 
flesh  and  blood-hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven,"  I  felt  that  this  had  been  said  to  me,  and  were  these 
words  sounded  from  heaven  I  would  not  have  felt  happier.  How  true 
it  is  that  no  flesh  could  reveal  unto  me  what  God  had  revealed,  be- 
cause many  Christian  friends  tried  to  make  me  believe,  but  I  could 


DR.  DE  FOREST'S   WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  g/ 

not.  I  felt  as  if  everything  had  become  new  and  beautiful,  because 
my  Heavenly  Father  had  made  them  all.  I  was  sometimes  with  faith 
and  sometimes  doubting,  and  by  these  changes  my  faith  was  strength- 
ened. After  a  short  time,  I  asked  Mr.  Whiting  to  let  me  join  the 
Church.  He  asked  me  if  I  saw  any  change  in  myself,  and  I  said, 
"  One  thing  I  know,  that  I  used  to  dislike  Christian  people,  and  now 
they  are  my  best  friends."  After  a  short  time  I  was  permitted  to  join 
the  Church.  Then  I  left  off  teaching  the  day  school,  and  was  asked 
to  teach  in  a  Boarding  school  with  Miss  Cheney,  in  the  same  Semi- 
nary where  I  was  brought  up.  We  taught  in  that  school  only  six 
months.  Miss  Cheney  married,  and  I  was  engaged  to  be  married. 
While  I  was  engaged,  I  went  to  Mr.  Bird's  school  for  girls  in  Deir  el 
Kamr,  and  taught  there  for  more  than  a  year.  I  was  married  by  Mr. 
Bird  in  his  own  house  to  M.  Yusef  Barakat,  and  then  we  went  to 
Hasbeiya.  I  stayed  there  seven  months  and  then  went  to  Beirut,  and 
thence  to  Damascus  with  my  husband,  because  he  had  to  teach  there. 
I  had  nothing  to  do  there  but  to  look  after  my  house,  my  little  boy, 
and  my  husband. 

After  some  time,  the  massacre  broke  out  in  Damascus,  (July  9, 
1860,)  so  we  came  back  as  refugees  to  Beirut.  Soon  after  my  hus- 
band was  taken  ill  and  then  died.  In  that  same  year  1860,  dear  Mrs. 
Bowen  Thompson  came  to  Beirut.  She  felt  for  the  widows  and  or- 
phans, being  herself  a  widow.  She  asked  me  if  I  would  come,  and 
teach  a  school  for  the  widows  and  orphans,  which  I  accepted  thank- 
folly.  We  opened  the  school  with  five  children  and  seven  women, 
and  the  work,  by  God's  help  has  prospered,  so  that  now,  instead  of 
one  school,  there  are  twenty-two  schools.  Until  now  I  continue  teach- 
ing in  the  Institution,  and  had  I  known  that  nearly  all  my  life  would 
be  spent  in  teaching,  I  should  have  tried  to  gain  more  when  I  was  a 
child.  I  can  forget  father  and  mother,  but  can  never  forget  those  who 
taught  me,  especially  about  religion.  Although  some,  of  them  are 
dead,  yet  still  they  live  by  their  Christian  example,  which  they  have 
left  behind.  My  whole  life  will  be  full  of  gratitude  to  those  dear 
Christian  friends,  and  I  pray  that  God  himself  may  reward  them  a 
hundred  fold. 

Yours  respectfully, 

SADA  BARAKAT. 

In  the  year  1851,  the  Missionary  Sewing  Society 


88  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

of  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary  heard  of  the  interest- 
ing state  of  things  in  Aintab,  and  that  the  women 
there  were  anxious  to  learn  to  read.  The  missiona- 
ries in  Aintab  hired  an  old  man  to  go  around  from 
house  to  house  to  teach  the  women  to  read  in  their 
homes,  but  the  women  were  so  eager  to  learn  that 
the  old  man  was  unable  to  meet  the  demand.  So 
children  were  employed  to  assist.  The  plan  worked 
admirably,  and  in  1851,  eighty  women  received  in- 
struction and  became  able  to  read  God's  Word. 
The  Arab  girls  in  Mrs.  De  Forest's  school  were  called 
together,  and  it  was  proposed  that  they  sew  and  em- 
broider and  send  the  proceeds  of  their  work  to  pay 
the  little  girl  teachers  in  Aintab.  There  were  pres- 
ent, Ferha,  (joy,)  Sara,  Saada  Sabunjy,  Miriam, 
Khushfeh,  Khurma,  Mirta,  (Martha)  Feifun,  Katrina, 
Hada,  Sada  el  Haleby,  Esteer,  Helloon,  Fetny, 
Akabir,  Hamdy,  and  Liza.  The  needles  were  brisk- 
ly plied,  and  in  due  time,  two  hundred  and  fifty  pias- 
tres were  collected  and  forwarded  to  Aintab.  Mrs. 
Schneider  wrote  back  thanking  the  "  dear  Arab  girls."' 
The  habits  of  benevolence  thus  acquired  have  con- 
tinued with  the  most  of  these  girls  until  now.  The 
greater  part  of  them  are  now  church-members  and 
the  heads  of  families. 

The  following  letter  written  by  Mrs.  De  Forest 
in  Feb.  1852,  gives  some  account  of  Lulu  Araman. 

BEIRUT,  SYRIA,  February,  1852. 
MY  DEAR  YOUNG  FRIENDS  IN  THETFORD  : 

The  quilt  you  sent  came  safely,  and  I  thank  you  much  for  all  the 
care  and  trouble  you  have  taken  to  make  and  quilt  it  for  me.     I  at 


DR.  DE  FORESU'S  WORK  IN  BEIRUT. 


89 


first  thought  of  keeping  it  for  myself,  but  then  it  occurred  to  me  that 
perhaps  it  might  please  you  better  and  interest  you  more  if  I  gave  it 
to  Lulu,  one  of  my  girls,  who  is  to  be  married  some  time  this  year  to 
Mr.  Michaiel  Araman,  one  of  the  teachers  in  the  Abeih  Seminary. 
You  will  thus  have  the  pleasure  of  feeling  that  you  have  in.one  sense 
done  something  for  the  school,  as  she  is  an  assistant  pupil,  or  pupil 
teacher.  She  has  been  with  me  now  for  about  eight  years,  and  seems 
almost  like  my  own  daughter.  Perhaps  you  will  be  interested  in 
knowing  something  of  her. 

She  was  born  in  a  jleasant  valley,  Wady  Shehrur,  near  Beirut, 
celebrated  for  its  fine  oranges,  and  indeed  for  almost  all  kind  of  fine 
fruits.  She  lost  both  her  parents  early  in  life.  Her  brothers  (contra- 
ry to  the  usual  custom  here  where  girls  are  not  much  regarded  or 
cared  for)  were  very  kind  to  her,  and  as  she  was  a  delicate  child,  they 
took  great  care  of  her,  and  often  used  to  make  vows  to  some  saint  in 
her  behalf.  At  one  time,  when  she  was  very  ill,  they  vowed  to  Mar 
Giurgis  (for  they  are  members  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  St.  George 
is  one  of  the  favorite  saints  of  the  Greeks,  and  indeed  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian sects  here,  and  they  still  show  the  spot  where  he  is  said  to  have 
killed  the  dragon)  that  if  she  recovered,  she  should  carry  to  one  of  his 
shrines  two  wax  candles  as  tall  as  herself  and  of  a  prescribed  weight. 
While  she  was  still  feeble  they  provided  the  candles,  and  as  she  was 
too  weak  to  walk,  they  carried  her  and  the  candles  also,  to  the  holy 
place  and  presented  them. 

When  she  was  eight  years  old,  they  were  persuaded  by  an  acquaint- 
ance to  place  her  in  one  of  the  Mission  families.  Here  she  was  in- 
structed in  her  own  language,  and  especially  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
She  was  allowed,  however,  to  keep  her  feasts  and  fasts,  and  to  attend 
her  own  church,  until  she  became  convinced  that  these  things  would 
not  save  her  and  she  wished  to  give  them  up.  One  feast  day  the  lady 
with  whom  she  lived  gave  her  some  sewing  and  told  her  to  seat  her- 
self and  do  her  task.  She  refused,  saying  it  was  a  feast  day,  and  it 
was  unlawful  work.  A  little  while  after  she  asked  permission  tc  go 
and  visit  her  brother's  family  ;  but  the  lady  told  her,  "  No,  if  it  is  un- 
lawful to  work,  it  is  unlawful  to  visit.  I  have  no  objection  to  your 
keeping  your  feast  days,  but  if  you  do  you  must  keep  them  as  holy 
time."  So  she  gave  her  a  portion  of  Scripture  to  learn,  and  she  was 
kept  very  quiet  all  day,  as  though  it  was  the  Sabbath,  and  without  the 
day  being  made  agreeable  to  her  like  the  Sabbath  by  going  to  Church 


9o 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


and  Sabbath  School.  She  did  not  at  all  like  keeping  a  feast  in  this 
manner,  which  is  very  different  from  the  manner  in  which  such  a  day 
or  even  the  Sabbath,  is  kept  in  this  land,  and  was  ever  after  ready  to 
work  when  told  to  do  so.  When  her  brothers  saw  that  she  was  be'-  • 
ginning  to  give  up  their  vain  ceremonies,  they  became  anxious  to  get 
her  away,  lest  she  should  become  a  Protestant ;  and  at  one  time,  when 
she  went  home  to  attend  the  wedding  of  one  of  her  relatives,  they  re- 
fused to  allow  her  to  return,  and  it  was  only  through  the  good  man- 
agement of  the  native  friend  who  was  sent  for  her,  and  her  own  de- 
termination to  come,  that  she  was  permitted  to  come  back. 

We  hope  that  she  became  truly  pious  six  years  ago,  in  1846,  as 
her  life  evinces  that  she  is  striving  to  live  according  to  the  precepts 
o*f  the  gospel.  She  has  never  dared  to  go  home  again,  although  it  has 
been  a  great  trial  for  her  to  stay  away,  because  she  knew  that  she 
shouid  be  obliged  to  remain  there,  and  to  conform  to  the  idolatrous 
rites  of  the  Greek  Church.  She  has  assisted  us  in  the  School  for 
nearly  five  years,  besides  teaching  a  day  school  at  various  times,  be- 
fore the  Boarding  School  was  commenced,  and  we  shall  feel  very  sorry 
to  part  with  her.  Still  we  hope  that  she  will  'yet  be  useful  to  her 
countrywomen,  and  furnish  them  an  example  of  a  happy  Christian 
home,  of  which  there  are  so  few  at  present  in  this  country. 

Our  school  has  now  nineteen  pupils,  most  of  whom  are  promising. 
Some  we  hope  are  true  Christians.  The  girls  opened  their  box  the 
other  day,  and  found  that  they  had  a  little  more  than  last  year  from 
their  earnings.  Some  friends  added  a  little,  and  they  have  now  forty 
dollars.  One  half  they  send  to  China,  and  the  other  half  give  to  the 
Church  here." 

The  hope  expressed  by  Mrs.  De  Forest  in  1852, 
with  regard  to  the  future  usefulness  of  Lulu,  has 
not  been  disappointed.  Her  family  is  a  model 
Christian  family,  the  home  of  piety  and  affection, 
the  centre  of  a  pure  and  hallowed  influence.  Her 
eldest  daughter  Katie,  named  from  Mrs.  De  Forest, 
is  now  a  teacher  in  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary  in 
which  her  father  has  been  the  principal  instructor  in 
the  Bible  and  in  the  higher  Arabic  branches  for  ten 


DR.  DE  FOREST'S  WORK  IN  BEIRUT.  gi 

years.  For  years  this  institution  was  carried  on  in 
Lulu's  house,  and  she  was  the  Matron  while  Rufka 
was  the  Preceptress,  and  its  very  existence  is  owing 
to  the  patient  and  faithful  labors  of  those  two  Chris- 
tian Syrian  women.  If  any  one  who  reads  these 
lines  should  doubt  the  utility  of  labors  for  the  girls 
and  women  of  the  Arab  race,  let  him  visit  first  the 
squalid,  disorderly,  cheerless  and  Christless  homes 
of  the  mass  of  the  Arab  villagers  of  Syria,  and  then 
enter  the  cheerful,  tidy,  well  ordered,  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Araman,  when  the  family  are  at  morning 
prayers,  listen  to  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise  and 
the  reading  of  Gpd's  word.  Instead  of  the  father 
sitting  gloomily  alone  at  his  morning  meal,  and  the 
mother  and  children  waiting  till  their  lord  is  through 
and  then  eating  by  themselves  in  th*e  usual  Arab 
way,  he  would  see  the  whole  family  seated  together 
in  a  Christian,  homelike  manner,  the  Divine  blessing 
asked,  and  the  meal  conducted  with  propriety  and 
decorum.  After  breakfast  the  father  and  Katie  go 
to  the  Seminary  to  give  their  morning  lessons, 
Henry  (named  for  Dr.  De  Forest)  sets  out  for  the 
College,  in  which  he  is  a  Sophomore,  and  the 
younger  children  go  to  their  various  schools.  Lulu's 
place  at  church  is  rarely  vacant,  and  since  that 
"  relic  of  barbarism"  the  curtain  which  separated 
the  men  from  the  women  has  been  removed  from 
the  building,  the  whole  family,  father,  mother,  and 
children  sit  together  and  join  in  the  worship  of  God. 
Her  brother  and  relatives  from  "  Wady"  are  on  the 
most  affectionate  terms  with  her,  and  her  elder 


Q2        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

sister  is  in  the  domestic  department  of  the  Beirut 
Female  Seminary. 

This  change  is  very  largely  due  to  the  efforts 
of  Mrs.  De  Forest,  whose  name  with  that  of 
her  sainted  husband  is  embalmed  in  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Christian  families  of  Syria,  and 
will  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  The 
second  generation  of  Christian  teachers  is  now  grow- 
ing up  in  Syria.  Three  of  Mrs.  De  Forest's  pupils 
have  daughters  now  engaged  in  teaching.  Khushfeh, 
Lulu,  and  Sada  el  Haleby;  and  Miriam  Tabet  has  a 
daughter  married  to  Mr.  S.  Hallock,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Press  in  Beirut. 

FRUITS  OF  DR.   DE  FOREST'S   GIRL'S   SCHOOL. 

In  the  autumn  of  1852,  there  was  a  school  of 
thirty  girls  in  B'hamdun,  a  village  high  up  in  Mt. 
Lebanon.  Fifteen  months  before  the  teacher  was 
the  only  female  in  the  village  who  could  read,  and 
she  had  been  taught  by  the  native  girls  in  Dr.  De 
Forest's  school.  Quite  a  number  of  the  girls  of  the 
village  had  there  learned  to  read,  and  they  all  came 
to  the  school  clean  and  neatly  dressed.  They  com- 
mitted to  memory  verses  of  Scripture,  and  it  was 
surprising  to  see  how  correctly  they  recited  them  at 
the  Sabbath  School.  At  meeting  they  were  quiet 
and  attentive  like  the  best  behaved  children  in 
Christian  lands.  It  would  be  difficult  to  sum  up  the 
results  of  tha^  little  school  for  girls  twenty  years  ago 
in  B'hamdun.  That  village  is  full  of  gospel  light. 
A  Protestant  church  edifice  is  in  process  of  erection, 


DR.  DE  FORESTS  WORK  IN  BEIRUT. 


93 


a  native  pastor,  Rev.  Sulleba  Jerawan,  preaches  to  the 
people,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  have  at  least  an 
intellectual  acquaintance  with  the  truth. 

The  picturesque  village  of  B'hamdun,  where  Dr. 
De  Forest's  school  is  established,  is.on  the  side  of  a 
lofty  mountain.  It  is  nearly  4000  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  village  is  compact 
as  a  little  city,  the  streets  narrow,  rocky  and  crooked, 
the  houses  flat-roofed,  and  the  floors  of  mud.  One 
of  the  Protestants,  the  father  of  Miriam  Tabet,  has 
built  a  fine  large  house  with  glass  windows  and  paved 
floors,  which  is  one  of  the  best  houses  in  that  part  of 
Lebanon.  The  village  is  surrounded  by  vineyards, 
and  the  grapes  are  regarded  as  the  finest  in  Mt.  Leba- 
non. The  people  say  that  they  never  have  to  dig 
for  the  foundation  of  a  house,  but  only  to  sweep  off 
the  dust  with  a  broom.  There  is  not  a  shade  tree 
in  the  village.  One  day  Dr.  De  Forest  asked,  "  Why 
don't  you  plant  a  tree?"  "We  shall  not  live  till  it 
has  grown,"  was  the  reply.  "  But  your  children 
will,"  said  the  Doctor.  "  Let  them  plant  it  then/' 
was  the  satisfactory  answer. 

My  first  visit  to  B'hamdun  was  made  in  Febru- 
ary, 1856,  a  few  days  after  my  first  arrival  in  Syria. 
On  Sabbath  morning  I  attended  the  Sabbath  School 
with  Mr.  Benton,  at  that  time  a  missionary  of  the 
A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  One  little  girl  named  Katrina  Su- 
bra,'  then  nine  years  of  age,  repeated  the  Arabic 
Hymn  "  Kumii  wa  Rettelu,"  "Awake  and  sing  the 
song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb.''  She  was  a  bright- 
eyed  child  of  fair  complexion  and  of  unusual  intelli- 


94        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

gence.  At  that  time  there  was  no  children's  hymn 
book  in  Arabic,  and  I  asked  Mr.  B.  to  promise  the 
children  that  when  I  had  learned  the  Arabic,  I 
would  translate  a  collection  of  children's  hymns  into 
Arabic,  which  promise  was  fulfilled  first  in  the  print- 
ing of  the  "  Douzan  el  Kethar,"  "  The  tuning  of  the 
Harp/'  in  1861.  Katrina  was  the  daughter  of  Elias 
Subra,  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  village,  who 
had  just  then  become  a  Protestant.  She  had  been 
interested  in  the  truth  for  some  time,  and  though  at 
the  time  only  eight  years  old,  was  accustomed  dur- 
ing the  preceding  summer  to  tell  the  Arab  children 
that  she  was  a  Protestant,  though  they  answered 
her  with  insults  and  cursing.  At  first  she  could  not 
bear  to  be  abused,  and  answered  them  in  language 
more  forcible  than  proper,  but  by  the  time  of  my 
visit  she  had  become  softened  and  subdued  in  her 
manner,  and  was  never  heard  to  speak  an  unkind 
word  to  any  one.  She  undertook,  even  at  that  age, 
to  teach  the  Greek  servant  girl  in  the  family  how  to 
read.  One  day  the  old  Greek  Priest  met  her  in  the 
street  and  asked  her  why  she  did  not  go  to  confession 
as  the  other  Greek  children  do.  She  replied  that 
she  could  go  to  Christ  and  confess.  The  priest  then 
said  that  her  father  and  the  rest  of  the  Protestants 
go  to  the  missionary  and  write  out  their  sins  on 
papers  which  he  puts  into  rat  holes  in  the  wall ! 
Katrina  knew  this  to  be  a  foolish  falsehood  and  told 
the  priest  so.  He  then  asked  her  how  the  Protest- 
ants confess.  She  replied  that  they  confess  as  the 
Lord  Jesus  tells  them  to,  quoting  to  him  the  Ian- 


DR.  DE  FORESTS  WORK  IN  BEIRUT. 


95 


guage  of  Scripture,  (Matt.  6:  6.)  "  But  thou  when 
thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou 
hast  shut  the  door,  -pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in 
secret,  and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  shall  re- 
ward thee  openly."  The  priest  was  confounded  by 
the  ready  truthful  answer  of  the  child,  and  turned 
away. 

Three  years  later  Katrina  was  a  member  of  the 
Mission  Female  Seminary  in  Suk  el  Ghurb,  a  village 
three  hours  distant  from  Beirut,  urider  the  instruc- 
tion of  Miss  Temple  and  Miss  Johnson,  and  contin- 
ued there  until  the  Seminary  was  broken  up  by  the 
massacres  of  May  and  June,  1860.  I  remember 
well  the  day  when  that  procession  of  girls  and  teach- 
ers rode  and  walked  down  from  Suk  el  Ghurb  to 
Beirut.  All  Southern  Lebanon  was  in  a  blaze. 
Twenty-five  villages  were  burning.  Druze  and 
Maronite  were  in  deadly  strife.  Baabda  and  Hadeth 
which  we  passed  on  our  way  to  Beirut*  were  a  smok- 
ing ruin.  Armed  bodies  of  Druzes  passed  and 
saluted  us,  but  no  one  offered  to  insult  one  of  the 
girls  by  word  or  gesture.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bliss  gave 
us  lunch  at  their  home  in  the  Suk  as  we  came  from 
Abeih,  and  then  followed  a  few  days  later  to  Beirut. 
Miss  Temple  tried  to  re-open  the  school  in  Beirut, 
but  the  constant  tide  of  refugees  coming  in  from 
the  mountains,  and  the  daily  rumors  of  an  attack 
by  Druzes  and  Moslems  on  Beirut,  threw  the  city  in- 
to a  panic,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  instruction.  The  girls  were  sent  to 
their  parents  where  this  was  practicable,  and  the 


A  Syrian  Woman. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT. 

TN  1856  Miss  Cheney  re-opened  the  Female  Semi- 

nary  with  eight  pupils,  in  Beirut,  and  in  the  34 
schools  of  the  Mission  there  were  1068  pupils,  of 
whom  266  were  girls. 

In  1857,  there  were  277  girls  in  the  various 
schools. 

In  1858,  Miss  Temple  and  Miss  Johnson  arrived 
from  America,  and  the  Female  Seminary  was  opened 
in  Suk  el  Ghurb  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bliss,  Miss 
Johnson  and  Miss  Cheney  having  returned  to  the 
United  States,  Miss  Mason  came  to  aid  Miss  Tem- 
ple in  February,  1860.  The  girl's  school  in  Beirut 
under  the  care  of  Rufka  Gregory,  had  about  60  pu- 
pils. The  civil  war  in  Lebanon,  followed  by  the 
.massacres  in  Jezzin,  Deir  el  Komr,  Hasbeiya,  Rash- 
eiya  and  Damascus,  beginning  in  May,  and  continu- 
ing until  the  middle  of  July,  broke  up  all  our  schools 
and  seminaries,  and  filled  the  land  with  sorrow  and 
desolation: 

Miss  Temple  and  Miss  Mason  remained  for  a 
season  in  Beirut,  studying  the  Arabic  language,  and 
in  1862  Miss  Temple  having  returned  to  the  U.  S.  A., 
Miss  Mason  opened  a  Boarding  School  for  girls  in 
Sidon. 


98  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

It  was  decided  that  none  but  Protestant  girls 
should  be  received  into  this  school,  that  no  English 
should  be  taught,  and  that  the  style  of  eating,  sleep- 
ing and  dress  should  be  conformed  as  much  as  pos- 
sible to  the  standard  of  native  customs  in  the  country 
villages,  in  order  that  the  girls  might  the  more  read- 
ily return  to  their  homes  as  teachers,  without  acquir- 
ing European  tastes  and  habits.  Miss  Mason  car- 
ried on  this  school  until  1865,  when  she  returned  to 
the  U.  S.  A.,  and  it  was  decided  if  possible  to  carry 
it  on  with  native  instructors  under  the  supervision 
of  Mrs.  Eddy. 

In  the  winter  of  1867  it  was  under  the  kind 
charge  of  Mrs.  Watson  of  Shemlan  and  her  adopted 
daughter,  Miss  Handumeh  Watson,  and  is  now  con- 
ducted by  two  English  young  ladies,  Miss  Jacombs 
and  Miss  Stanton,  who  are  supported  by  the  London 
"  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Female  Education  in 
the  East."  On  the  removal  of  the  girls'  Boarding 
School  to  Sidon,  it  was  evident  that  the  Female 
Seminary  must  be  re-opened  in  Beirut.  Owing  to 
the  depressed  state  of  Missionary  finances  in  Amer- 
ica, arising  from  the  civil  war,  it  was  deemed  advisa- 
ble to  reorganize  the  Beirut  Seminary  on  a  new 
basis,  with  only  native  teachers.  The  Providence 
of  God  had  prepared  teachers  admirably  fitted  for 
this  work,  who  undertook  it  with  cheerful  hope  and 
patient  industry.  It  was  decided  to  make  a  paying 
Boarding  School  of  a  higher  order  than  any  existing 
institution  in  Syria,  and  to  resume  instruction  in  the 
English  language,  giving  lessons  also  in  French  and 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT. 


99 


Music  to  those  who  were  willing  to  pay  for  these 
branches. 

Mr.  Michael  Ar^man,  for  many  years  a  teacher 
in  the  Abeih  Seminary  with  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  for 
some  time  a  native  preacher  in  Beirut,  was  appointed 
instructor  in  the  Biblical  History  and  the  Higher 
Arabic  branches  ;  his  wife  Lulu,  the  Matron,  and 
Miss  Ruf  ka  Gregory,  the  Preceptress.  Rufka  was 
an  orphan,  as  already  stated,  and  was  trained 
with  her  sister  Sada  in  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Whiting  for  many  years.  As  a  teacher  and  a  disci- 
plinarian she  had  not  an  equal  among  the  women 
of  Syria,  and  under  the  joint  management  of  this 
corps  of  teachers,  aided  by  competent  assistants  in 
the  various  branches,  the  Seminary  rose  in  public 
esteem,  until  it  became  one  of  the  most  attractive 
and  prosperous  institutions  in  Syria. 

In  March,  1862,  Ruf  ka's  day  school  of  seventy, 
girls  held  a  public  examination  in  the  Chapel.  The 
girls  were  examined  in  Arabic  reading,  geography, 
grammar,  catechism,  arithmetic,  Scripture  lessons 
and  English,  with  an  exhibition  of  specimens  of 
their  needle  work.  In  the  fall  it  was  commenced  as 
a  Boarding  School,  with  two  paying  pupils  and  four 
charity  pupils.  The  funds  for  commencing  the 
boarding  department  were  furnished  by  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Van  Rensselaer,  Mrs.  Henry  Farnum,  Col. 
Frazer,  H.  B.  M.  Commissioner  to  Syria,  and  others. 
The  Seminary  not  being  under  the  direction  of  the 
Mission  as  such,  nor  in  connection  with  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  was  placed  under  the  care  of  a  local 


IOO  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS, 

Board  of  Managers,  consisting  of  Dr.  Thomson,  Dr. 
Van  Dyck,  Consul  J.  A.  Johnson,  and  Rev.  H.  H.  Jes- 
sup.  Dr.  Thomson  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts 
to  place  it  on  a  firm  and  permanent  foundation,  as  a 
purely  Native  Protestant  institution,  and  the  fact 
that  such  a  school  could  be  carried  on  for  a  year 
without  a  single  foreign  instructor,  was  one  of  the 
most  encouraging  features  in  the  history  of  the  Syria 
Mission.  It  was  the  first  purely  native  Female  Sem- 
inary in  Western  Asia,  and  we  hope  it  will  not  be 
the  last. 

It  will  continue  to  be  the  aim  of  the  Mission,  and 
of  the  present  able  faculty  of  the  institution,  to  train 
up  Native  teachers  qualified  to  carry  on  the  work 
in  the  future. 

At  the  same  time  in  the  fall  of  1862,  a  school  for 
Damascene  girls  was  opened  in  an  upper  room  of 
my  house,  under  the  care  of  one  of  Dr.  De  Forest's 
pupils,  Sada  el  Haleby,  who  carried  it  on  successfully 
with  seventy  girls  ujntil  August,  1864,  when,  on  my 
departure  for  the  U.  S.  A.  the  school  was  taken  up 
by  the  late  Mrs.  Bowen  Thompson,  whose  Society 
has  maintained  it  until  this  day. 

In  1863,  the  number  of  paying  boarders  in  the 
Seminary  had  increased  to  twenty,  and  in  1866  the 
pupils  numbered  eighty,  and  the  income- from  native 
paying  pupils  was  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars  in 
gold! 

The  Annual  Examination  was  held  in  the  latter 
part  of  June,  in  the  Mission  Chapel,  and  continued 
three  days,  thronged  by  a  multitude  of  interested 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIR  UT.     IQI 

spectators.  The  Turkish  official  Arabic  Journal  of 
Beirut,  the  "  Hadikat  el  Akhbar,"  published  a 
lengthy  report  of  the  Examination,  pronouncing  it 
the  most  satisfactory  examination  of  girls  that  ever 
took  place  in  Syria.  An  English  clergyman  who 
was  present  refused  to  believe  that  they  were  Syrian 
girls',  'insisting  that  they  must  be  English.  The 
girls  recited  in  Bible  History,  giving  all  the  impor- 
tant dates  from  Adam  to  Christ,  with  an  account 
of  the  rites,  sacrifices  and  prophecies  which  refer  to 
Christ,  giving  also  the  names  of  all  the  patriarchs, 
judges,  kings  and  prophets  in  their  order.  Twenty- 
two  different  classes  were  examined,  and  many  of 
the  girls  read  original  compositions. 

On  the  Sabbath,  July  ist,  two  of  the  assistant 
teachers,  Asin  Haddad  and  Sara  Sarkis  were 
received  to  the  communion  of  the  Beirut  Church. 
They  traced  their  religious  awakening  to  the  dying 
testimony  of  Sara  Bistany,  which  is  described  in  a 
subsequent  chapter.  Several  of  the  younger  pupils 
were  much  'interested  in  the  subject  of  religion  at 
the  time,  and  one  little  girl  about  seven  years  old 
said  to  her  teacher,  "  I  gave  the  Lord  my  heart,  and 
He  took  it."  Asin  died  in  Latakiah  in  1869,  tri- 
umphing in  Christ.  The  women  of  the  neighbor- 
hood came  to  the  house,  of  her  brother  to  hear  her 
joyous  expressions  of  trust  in  Jesus,  and  her  assur- 
ance that  she  should  soon  be  with  Him  in  glory. 
She  was  the  second  daughter  of  that  young  bride 
of  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  learned  to  read  in 


102  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

in  the  school  taught  by  her  own  husband,  Tannus  el 
Haddad* 

In  1867,  the  health  of  Rufka  having  become 
seriously  impaired,  she  removed  to  Egypt,  where 
after  a  period  of  rest,  she  opened  on  her  own 
account  a  school  for  girls  in  Cairo,  which  she  main- 
tained with  her  wonted  energy,  until  her  marriage 
with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Muir,  a  Scotch  clergyman,  whom 
she  accompanied  to  Melbourne,  Australia,  in  1869. 
Since  the  death  of  her  husband  she  has  returned  to 
her  favorite  employment  of  teaching,  with  marked 
success,  among  the  British  population  of  Melbourne. 

While  in  Cairo,  she  passed  through  a  deep  and 
agonizing  religious  experience,  which  she  described 
in  the  following  letter  to  Mrs.  Whiting,  and  the  re- 
sult of  which  was  a  new  life  in  Christ. 

CAIRO,  EGYPT,  July  9, 1868. 

"  I  think  I  shall  always  remember  my  stay  in  Cairo  with  much 
pleasure,  but  the  greatest  advantage  of  this  year  is  the  opportunity  I 
had  of  stopping  to  think  of  the  interests  of  a  never-dying  soul,  of  a 
neglected  Saviour,  an  offended  God.  Yes,  I  have  reflected,  struggled, 
oh,  how  hard,  and  thanks  to  an  ever  merciful  God,  I  trust  I  have  been 
led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  see  and  feel  my  great  sin,  and  casting  my- 
self at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  stayed  there  with  my  sinful  heart  till  a  lov- 
ing Saviour  just  came  and  took  it  up.  Oh,  how  grieved  was  His  ten- 
der heart  when  He  saw  how  defiled  it  was  with  sin  and  wickedness, 
but  He  said,  fear  not,  my  blood  will  cleanse  it  and  make  it  pure  ; 
then  how  He  pleaded  my  case  before  His  Father,  setting  forth  His 
boundless  love  and  infinite  righteousness  as  a  reason  why  He  wished 
to  be  accepted.  Yes,  dear  Mrs.  Whiting,  I  hope  I  can  now  say,  Thy 
God  is  my  God,  and  the  blessed  Saviour  you  have  loved  so  long  is 
now  very  precious  to  me.  The  past  winter  has  been  a  solemn  time 
with  me.  Many  hard  struggles  have  I  had,  much  fear  that  I  might 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT. 


103 


have  forever  grieved- God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  for  a  longtime  it  all 
seemed  so  dark,  there  seemed  no  hope  for  me  who  had  been  so  long 
living  away  from  the  Saviour,  but  in  great  fear  and  despair  I  just 
rushed  and  cast  myself  at  His  feet,  and  asked  Him  to  let  me  perish 
there  if  I  must  perish ;  there  was  nothing  else  for  me  to  do,  and  I 
felt  such  happiness  in  just  leaving  myself  in  His  care.  How  wonder- 
ful is  His  love  !  But  what  a  life  of  constant  prayer  and  watching  is  that 
of  a  Christian  !  in  the  first  place  to  aim  at  close  walking  with  God, 
leaving  Him  to  order  our  steps  for  us,  and  trusting  Him  so  to  order 
our  way  as  to  best  enable  us  to  walk  closely  with  Him.  It  has  been 
a  most  comforting  thought  when  I  find  it  difficult  to  live  right  and 
feel  my  utter  weakness,  that  Jesus  is  each  day  saying  to  His  Father 
for  me,  "  I  pray  not  she  should  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  that  she 
should  be  kept  from  the  evil"  and  to  live  up  to  our  privileges  and  to 
walk  worthy  of  our  high  calling. 

My  precious  teacher,  I  know  you  will  rejoice  and  thank  God  with 
me  for  His  great  goodness  to  me  in  bringing  me  to  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
Oh,  how  precious  He  is  to  my  poor  soul !  '  He  is  Heaven.  How  He 
blesses  me  every  moment  !  His  boundless  love  to  me .  who  am  most 
unworthy  of  the  least  of  His  mercies.  If  ever  any  one  had  reason  to 
boast  of  the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord,  it  surely  must  be  myself. 
In  His  great  mercy  I  have  had  the^>rivilege  of  openly  confessing  my 
faith  in  Him,  and  publicly  professing  my  determination  to  be  the 
Lord's  at  the  last  communion  in  the  Church  here  in  May.  I  put  it  off 
till  then  hoping  to  do  it  in  Beirut  in  the  Church  dear  Mr.  Whiting  had 
preached  in  for  so  many  years,  and  among  the  girls  I  had  taught,  and 
all  the  young  friends  there,  but  as  that  was  not  allowed  me,  I  joined 
the  Church  here." 


Her  devoted  friend  and  loving  assistant  teacher 
Luciyah,  was  deeply  affected  by  what  she  learned 
from  Rufka  of  her  new  spiritual  life,  and  she  too 
turned  her  thoughts  to  divine  things,  and  soon  after 
the  arrival  of  Miss  Everett  and  Miss  Carruth  in  1868, 
to  take  charge  of  the  Seminary,  she  came  out  openly 
on  the  Lord's  side,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  fire  of 


104 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARAB'S. 


domestic  persecution,  publicly  professed  her  faith  in 
Jesus  as  her  only  Saviour. 

Miss  Carruth,  after  staying  just  long  enough  in 
the  Seminary  to  win  the  hearts  of  teachers  and  pu- 
pils, was  obliged  to  return  to  her  native  land,  where 
she  is  still  an  efficient  laborer  in  the  New  England 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions. 

The  year  following  the  departure  of  Rufka  to 
Egypt  was  a  critical  time  in  the  history  of  the  Sem- 
inary. Lulu  continued  in  charge  of  the  domestic 
department,  and  Mr.  Araman  managed  the  business 
of  the  school,  while  Mrs.  Salt  (a  sister  of  Melita  and 
Salome)  aided  in  several  of  the  classes.  But  the 
institution  owed  its.  great  success  during  that  year, 
if  not  its  very  existence,  to  the  untiring  energy  and 
efficient  services  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Bliss  and  Miss  Emilia 
Thomson,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomson. 
They  each  gave  several  hours  every  day  to  instruc- 
tion in  the  English  language,  the  Scriptures  and 
music,  and  the  high  standard  of  excellence  already 
attained  in  the  Seminary  was  maintained  if  not  sur- 
passed. 

Their  perfect  familiarity  with  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage gave  them  a  great  advantage  in  the  manage- 
ment and  instruction  of  the  pupils,  and  their  efforts  on 
behalf  of  the  Institution,  in  maintaining  it  in  full 
and  successful  operation  during  the  year  previous  to 
the  arrival  of  Miss  Everett  and  Miss  Carruth,  de- 
serve grateful  recognition. 

In  the  winter  of  1870  and  1871  Miss  Sophia 
Loring,  and  Miss  Ellen  Jackson  arrived  from  Amer- 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT.     105 

ica  as  colleagues  of  Miss  Everett,  and  under  their 
efficient  management  aided  by  Mr.  Araman,  Luciyah 
and  other  native  teachers,  the  Seminary  is  enjoying 
a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 

In  March,  1864,  the  Mission  had  issued  an  ap- 
peal for  funds  to  erect  'a  permanent  home  for  this 
Seminary,  and  in  1866  the  present  commodious  and 
substantial  edifice  was  erected,  a  lasting  monument 
of  the  liberality  of  Christian  men  and  women  in 
America  and  England. 

Its  cost  was  about  eleven  thousand  dollars,  and 
the  raising  of  this  sum  was  largely  due  to  the  liber- 
ality and  personal  services  of  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Booth,  of 
New  York,  who  also  kindly  acted  as  treasurer  of 
the  building  fund.  The  lumber  used  in  its  construc- 
tion was  brought  from  the  state  of  Maine.  The 
doors  and  windows  were  made  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  Hamlin  of  Constantinople,  in  Lowell,  Mass., 
the  tiles  came  from  Marseilles,  the  stone  from  the 
sandstone  quarries  of  Ras  Beirut,  the  stone  pave- 
ment partly  from  Italy  and  partly  from  Mt.  Lebanon, 
and  the  eighty  iron  bedsteads  from  Birmingham, 
England.  The  cistern,  which  holds  about  20,000 
gallons,  was  built  at  the  expense  of  a  Massachusetts 
lady,  and  the  portico  by  a  lady  of  New  York.  The 
melodeon  was  given  by  ladies  in  Georgetown,  D.  C., 
and  the  organ  is  the  gift  of  a  benevolent  lady  in 
Newport,  R.  I. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  recount  the  generous  of- 
ferings  of  Christian  men  and  women  who  have  aided 
in  the  support  of  this  school  during  the  ten  years  of 
S* 


106  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

its  history.  Receiving  no  pecuniary  aid  from  the 
American  Board,  the  entire  responsibility  of  its  sup- 
port fell  upon  a  few  members  of  the  Syria  Mission. 
Travellers  who  passed  through  the  Holy  Land,  some- 
times assumed  the  support  of  charity  pupils,  or  in- 
terested their  Sabbath  Schools  in  raising  scholarships, 
on  their  return  home,  and  a  few  noble  friends  in  the 
United  States  have  sent  on  their  gifts  from  time  to 
time  unsolicited,  to  defray  the  general  expenses  of 
the  Institution.  Its  support  has  been  to  some  of  us  a 
work  of  faith,  as  well  as  a  labor  of  love.  Not  un- 
frequently  has  the  end  of  the  month  come  upon  us, 
without  one  piastre  in  the  treasury  for  paying  the 
teachers'  salaries  or  buying  bread  for  the  children, 
when  suddenly,  in  some  unknown  and  unexpected 
way,  funds  would  be  received,  sufficient  for  all  our 
wants.  About  two  years  since  the  funds  were  en- 
tirely exhausted.  More  than  a  hundred  dollars 
would  be  owing  to  the  teachers  and  servants  on  the 
following  day.  The  accounts  were  examined,  and 
all  possible  means  of  relief  proposed,  but  without 
avail.  At  length  one  of  the  members  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  asked  leave  to  look  over  the  accounts. 
He  did  so,  and  said  he  could  not  find  any  mention 
of  a  sum  of  about  thirty  Napoleons,  which  he  was 
sure  he  had  paid  into  the  treasury  several  months 
before,  as  a  donation  from  Mr.  Booth  of  New  York, 
whose  son  had  died  in  Beirut.  The  money  had  not 
been  paid  into  the  school  treasury.  The  vouchers 
were  all  produced,  and  there  was  left  no  resort  but 
prayer.  There  was  earnest  supplication  that  night 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT. 


107 


that  the  Lord  would  relieve  us  from  our  embarrass- 
ment, and  provide  for  the  necessities  of  the  school. 
The  next  morning  the  good  brother,  above  men- 
tioned, recalled  to  mind  his  having  given  that 
money  to  Dr.  Van  Dyck  in  the  Mission  Library  for 
the  School.  Dr.  Van  Dyck  was  consulted,  and  at 
once  replied,  "  Certainly  I  received  the  money.  It 
is  securely  locked  up  in  the  safe  where  it  has  been 
for  months  awaiting  orders."  The  safe  was  opened, 
and  the  money  found  to  be  almost  to  a  piastre  the 
amount  needed  for  obligations  of  the  School. 

Since  the  transfer  of  the  Syria  Mission  to  the 
board  of  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the 
pecuniary  status  of  the  Seminary  has  been  somewhat 
modified.  The  Women's  Boards  of  Missions  of  New- 
York  and  Philadelphia  have  assumed  the  responsi- 
bility of  raising  scholarships  for  its  support  among 
the  Auxiliary  Societies  and  Sabbath  Schools ;  the 
salaries  of  the  teachers  are  provided  for  by  individ- 
uals and  churches,  and  several  of  the  old  friends  of 
the  school  retain  their  interest  in  it,  while  the  danger 
of  a  deficit  is  guarded  against,  by  the  guarantees  of 
the  good  Christian  women  who  are  doing  so  grand 
and  noble  a  work  in  this  age  for  the  world's  evangel- 
ization. The  annual  cost  of  supporting  a  pupil  now 
is  about  sixty  dollars  gold.  The  number  of  paying 
pupils  is  increasing,  and  the  prospect  for  the  future 
is  encouraging. 

In  the  year  1864,  a  letter  was  received  from  cer- 
tain Christian  women  in  America,  addressed  to  the 
girls  of  the  School,  and  some  of  the  older  girls  pre- 


IO8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

pared  a  reply  in  Arabic,  a  translation  of  which  was 
sent  to  America.     It  was  as  follows: 

"  From  the  girls  of  the  Beirut  School  in  Syria,  to 
the  sisters  beloved  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  a  land  very 
far  away.  We  have  been  honored  in  reading  the 
lines  which  reached  us  from  you,  O  sisters,  distant 
in  body  but  near  in  spirit,  and  we  have  given  glory 
to  God  the  Creator  of  all,  who  has  caused  in  your 
hearts  true  love  to  us,  and  spiritual  sympathies 
which  have  prompted  you,  dear  sisters  in  the  Lord, 
to  write  to  us.  Yes,  it  is-  the  Lord  Jesus  who  has 
brought  about  between  us  and  between  you  (Arabic 
idiom)  a  spiritual  intercourse,  without  the  intercourse 
of  bodily  presence.  For  we  have  never  in  our  lives 
seen  you,  nor  your  country,  nor  have  we  spoken  to 
you  face- to  face,  and  so  yo_u  likewise  -have  not  seen 
us.  Had  neither  of  us  the  Word  of  God,  the  Holy 
and  Only  Book  which  is  from  one  Father  and  a  God 
unchangeable,  to  tell  us  that  we  have  one  nature, 
and  have  all  fallen  into  one  transgression,  and  are 
saved  in  one  way,  which  is  the  Lord  Jesus,  we  could 
not,  as  we  now  can,  call  you  in  one  union,  our  sisters. 
The  Lord  Jesus  calls  those  who  love  Him  His  breth- 
ren, and  since  He  is  the  only  bond  and  link,  are  we 
not  His  sisters,  and  thus  sisters  to  each  other?  Tru- 
ly, O  dear  sisters,  we  are  thirsting  to  see  you,  and  we 
all  unite  in  offering  prayers  and  praises  to  God, 
t  through  His  Son  Immanuel,  the  possessor  of  the 
glorious  Name,  praying  that  we  may  see  you ;  but 
we  cannot  in  this  world,  for  we  are  in  the  East,  and 
you  are  in  the  West,  far,  very  far.  But,  O  dear 


A  Jew  with  the  Phylactery. 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT. 


109 


friends,  as  we  hope  for  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  so  after  our  period  in  this  world  is  ended,  we 
shall  meet  by  the  blessing  of  God  in  those  bright 
courts  which  are  illumined  by  the  light  of  the  Sav- 
iour, which  need  not  sun  nor  moon  to  give  them 
light, — that  holy  place  which  is  filled  with  throngs 
of  angels  who  never  cease  to  offer  glory  to  God. 
There  we  may  meet  and  unite  with  all  the  saved  in 
praising  the  Saviour.  There  we  may  meet  our 
friends  who  have  passed  on  before  us  "as  waiting 
they  watch  us  approaching  the  shore,''  as  we  sing  in 
the  hymn.  There  around  the  throne  of  the  glori- 
ous Saviour,  there  in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  our 
songs  will  not  be-  mingled  with  tears  and  grief,  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  will  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
our  eyes.  There  will  not  enter  sin  nor  its  likeness 
into  our  hearts  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  There 
thrs  body  which  shall  rise  incorruptible,  will  not  re- 
turn to  the  state  in  which  it  was  in  this  world.  In 
those  courts  we  shall  be  happy  always,  and  the  rea- 
son is  that  we  shall  always  be  with  the  Great  Shep- 
herd, as  it  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  '  He 
shall  shepherd  them  and  lead  them  to  fountains  of 
living  waters  and  wipe  all  tears  from  their  eyes.' 
Our  sisters,  were  it  not  for  the  Holy  Bible  which  the 
Lord  has  given  to  His  people,  we  should  have  no 
cojnfort  to  console  us  with  regard  to  our  friends 
whom  we  have  lost  by  means  of  death.  We  beg  you 
to  help  us  by  offering  prayers  to  the  living  and  true 
God  that  He  will  make  us  faithful  even  unto  death, 
— that  He  will  bless  us  while  on  the  sea  of  this  life, 


1 10  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

until  we  reach  the  shore  of  peace  without  fear  or 
trouble,  that  we  may  be  ready  to  stand  before  the 
seat  of  the  Lord  Jesus  the  Judge  of  all,  clothed  in  the 
robes  of  His  perfect  righteousness,  which  he  wove 
for  us  on  the  Cross,  and  is  now  ready  to  give  to 
those  who  ask  Him.  Let  us  then  all  ask  of  God 
that  this  our  only  treasure  may  be  placed  where  no 
thief  can  break  in  and  steal,  and  no  moth  shall  cor- 
rupt. And  may  the  Lord  preserve  you  ! 
We  love  to  sing  this  hymn, 

'  Holy  Bible,  Book  Divine, 
Precious  treasure,  thou  art  mine  ! ' 

and  we  entreat  you  that  when  you  sing  it,  you  will 
let  it  be  a  remembrancer  fcom  us  to  you." 

In  March,  1865,  a  little  girl  was  brought  to  the 
school  under  somewhat  peculiar  circumstances. 
Years  ago,  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Whiting,  a  Maronite 
monk  named  Nejm,  became  enlightened,  left  the 
monastery  and  was  married  to  a  Maronite  woman 
named  Zarifeh,  by  Mr.  Whiting.  For  years  the 
poor  man  passed  through  the  fires  of  persecution 
and  trial.  Even  his  wife,  in  her  ignorance,  though 
not  openly  opposing  him,  trembled  with  fear  every 
time  he  read  the  Scriptures  aloud.  At  the  time 
mentioned  above,  their  little  daughter  Resha  was 
about  five  years  of  age.  The  Papal  Maronite  Bishqp 
of  Beirut  made  a  visit  to  Nejm's  village,  Baabda,  to 
dispense  indulgences,  in  accordance  with  the  Pope's 
Encyclical  letter.  Nejm  was  called  upon  to  pay  his 
portion  of  the  sum  assessed  upon  the  people,  but 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT,     m 

having  been  a  Protestant  fifteen  years,  he  refused  to 
pay  it.  At  the  instigation  of  the  priests,  his  wife 
was  then  taken  from  him,  and  his  little  Resha,  his 
only  child,  was  carried  off  by  one  of  the  priests  to 
Beirut,  and  thrust  inside  the  gates  of  the  convent 
of  the  French  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  poor  father 
came  to  me,  well-nigh  broken-hearted,  pleading  for 
assistance.  I  laid  the  case  before  His  Excellency 
Baud  Pasha,  Governor  of  Lebanon,  who  was  then  in 
Beirut,  and  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  Pasha  of 
Beirut  also,  on  the  subject.  Nejm  went  about  weep- 
ing and  wringing  his  hands,  and  my  feelings  became 
deeply  enlisted  in  his  behalf.  Three  weeks  after- 
wards, after  a  series  of  petitions  and  visits  to  the 
Pasha  of  Beirut,  the  girl  Resha  was  removed  from 
the  convent  and  taken  by  Nejm's  enemies  to  a 
house  near  Nahr  Beirut,  about  two  miles  distant, 
and  just  over  the  border  line  of  the  Mountain 
Pasrfalic.  I  then  addressed  another  letter  to  Daud 
Pasha,  and  he  promptly  ordered  her  to  be  restored 
to  her  father.  The  manner  in  which  Nejm,  the 
father,  finally  secured  the  child  was  not  a  little 
amusing.  He  had  been  searching  for  his  child  for 
several  weeks,  waiting  and  watching,  until  his 
patience  was  about  exhausted,  when  he  heard  that 
Resha  was  again  in  the  hands  of  the  priests  in 
Baabda.  The  mother  followed  the  child,  and  the 
priests  threatened  to  kill  her,  if  she  informed  her 
husband  where  th.e  girl  was  secreted.  Daud  Pasha 
was  then  at  his  winter  palace  in  Baabda,  and  Nejm 
took  my  letter  to  him.  While  awaiting  a  reply  at 


H2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  door,  some  one  informed  him  that  his  daughter 
was  at  the  fountain.  Without  waiting  further  for 
official  aid,  he  ran  to  the  fountain,  took  up  his 
daughter,  put  her  on  his  back,  and  ran  for.  Beirut,  a 
distance  of  about  four  miles,  where  he  brought  her 
to  my  house,  and  placed  her  in  my  room,  with  loud 
ejaculations  of  thanks  to  God.  "  Neshkar  Allah ; 
El  mejd  lismoo."  Thanks  to  God !  Glory  to  His 
name  !  The  mother  soon  followed,  and  the  girl  was 
sent  as  a  day  scholar  to  the  Seminary.  They  are 
now  living  in  Baabda.  The  mother,  Zarify,  united 
•with  the  Evangelical  Church  of  Beirut,  July  21, 
1872,  giving  the  best  evidence  of  a  true  spiritual 
experience.  The  little  girl  is  anxious  to  teach,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  employ  her  as  an  assistant  in  the 
girls'  school  in  Baabda,  but  "the  tyrannical  oppres- 
sions of  the  priesthood  upon  the  family  who  had 
offered  their  house  for  the  school,  and  the  refusal  of 
the  Pasha  of  Lebanon  to  grant  protection  to^he 
persecuted,  have  obliged  the  brethren  there  to  post- 
pone their  request  for  a  school  for  the  present. 

Alas,  for  the  poor  women  of  Syria  !  Even  when 
they  seek  to  obtain  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel 
by  learning  to  read  the  Word  of  life,  they  are  sur- 
rounded by  priests  and  Sheikhs  who  watch  their 
chance  to  destroy  the  "  Bread  of  Life  !  "  In  March, 
1865,  a  Maronite  woman  called  at  the  Press  to  buy  a 
book  of  poems,  to  teach  her  boy  to  read.  "  Why 
not  buy  a  Testament?"  asked  the  bookseller.  "I 
did  buy  an  Engeel  Mushekkel,"  (a  voweled  Testa- 
ment.) "  Be  careful  of  it  then,"  sai'd  Khalil,  "  for 


RE-OPENING  OF  THE,  SCHOOL  IN  BEIRUT.     \  13 

the  edition  is  exhausted,  and  you  cannot  get  another 
for  months."  "  It  is  too  late  to  be  careful  now,  for 
the  book  has  been  burned,"  "  Burned  ?  by  whom  ?  " 
"  By  the  Jesuits,  who  gathered  a  large  pile  and 
burned  them."  God  grant  that  as  Tyndale's  Eng- 
lish New  Testament,  first  printed  in  1527  was  only 
spread  the  more  widely  for  the  attempts  of  the 
Papal  Bishop  of  London  to  burn  it,  so  the  Arabic 
Bible  may  receive  a  new  impulse  from  the  similarly 
insoired  efforts  of  the  Bishop's  successors ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LUCIYA  SHEKKUR. 

HP  HE  work  done  for  Christ  and  for  Syrian  girls  in 
the  families  of  Missionaries  in  Syria,  may  well 
compare  with  that  done  in  the  established  institutions 
of  learning.  Mrs.  Whiting  was  not  alone  in  the  work 
of  training  native  Arab  girls  in  her  own  home.  The 
same  work  had  been  done  by  other  Missionaries  be- 
fore her,  and  has  been  carried  on  with  no  little  suc- 
cess by  Mrs.  Bird,  Mrs.  Calhoun  and  others,  up  to 
the  present  time. 

It  is  an  interesting  sight  to  see  the  Thursday 
afternoon  Women's  meeting  in  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Calhoun  in  Abeih,  and  to  know  that  a  large  part  of 
that  company  of  bright,  intelligent  and  tidily  dressed 
young  native  women,  who  listen  so  intently  to  the 
Bible  lesson,  and  join  so  heartily  in  singing  the  sweet 
songs  of  Zion,  were  trained  up  either  in  her  own 
family,  or  under  her  own  especial  influence.  By 
means  of  her  own  example  in  the  training  of  her 
children,  she  has  taught  the  women  of  Abeih,  and 
through  them  multitudes  of  women  in  other  villages, 
the  true  Christian  modes  of  family  government  and 
discipline,  and  introduced  to  their  notice  and  practice 
many  of  those  little  conveniences  and  habits  in  the 


LUCIYA  SHEKKUR.  Hj 

training  of  children,  whose  influence  will  be  felt  for 
many  generations. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bird  removed  to  Deir  el 
Komr  in  1855,  they  not  only  opened  a  large  school 
for  the  education  of  girls,  with  Sada  Haleby,  one  of 
Dr.  De  Forest's  pupils,  as  teacher,  but  received 
into  their  own  family  three  young  girls,  named 
Luciya,  Sikkar  and  Zihry,  all  of  whom  entered  upon 
spheres  of  usefulness.  Zihry  became  a  teacher,  in 
Deir  el  Komr,  and  has  continued  to  teach  until  the 
present  time.  She  was  at  one  time  connected  with 
the  Beirut  Female  Seminary,  and  is  now  teaching  in 
the  Institution  of  Mrs.  Shrimpton,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  British  Syrian  Schools. 

Luciya  taught  in  Deir  el  Komr  until  the  school 
was  overwhelmed  in  the  fires  and  blood  of  the  Mas- 
sacre year,  1860. 

In  1862  she  taught  in  the  Sidon  School,  and  after- 
wards married  the  Rev.  Sulleba  Jerwan,  the  first  na- 
tive pastor  in  Hums.  In  that  great  city,  and  amid 
the  growing  interest  of  the  young  Protestant  com- 
munity, she  found  a  wide  and  attractive  field  of  labor. 
She  was  a  young  woman  of  great  gentleness  and 
delicacy  of  nature,  and  of  strong  religious  feeling, 
and  entered  upon  the  work  of  laboring  among  the 
women  and  girls  of  Hums,  with  exemplary  zeal  and 
discretion.  She  became  greatly  beloved,  and  her 
Godly  example  and  gentle  spirit  will  never  be  for- 
gotten. 

But  at  length  her  labors  were  abruptly  cut  short. 
Consumption,  a  disease  little  known  in  Syria,  but 


Il6  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

which  afterwards  cut  down  her  brother  and  only  sis- 
ter Sikkar,  fastened  upon  her,  and  she  was  obliged, 
in  great  suffering,  to  leave  the  raw  and  windy  cli- 
mate of  Hums,  for  the  milder  air  of  Beirut.  Her 
two  brothers  being  in  the  employ  of  Miss  Whately 
in  Cairo,  she  went,  on  their  invitation,  to  Egypt, 
where  after  a  painful  illness,  she  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 
Amid  all  her  sufferings,  she  maintained  that  same 
gentle  and  lovely  temper  of  mind,  which  made  her 
so  greatly  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her. 

She  has  rested  from  her  labors,  and  her  works  do 
follow  her.  Not  long  after  her  sister  Sikkar,  who 
had  also  been  trained  in  Mrs.  Bird's  family,  died  in 
her  native  village  Ain  Zehalteh. 

Her  last  end  also,  was  peace,  and  although  no 
concourse  of  Druze  Sheikhs  came  barefoot  over  the 
snow  to  her  funeral,  as  they  did  on  the  death  of  the 
Sitt  Selma,  in  the  same  village,  no  doubt  a  concourse 
of  higher  and  holier  beings  attended  her  spirit  to 
glory. 

When  Luciya  was  in  Beirut  before  her  departure 
to  Egypt,  I  used  to  see  her  frequently,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  the  calm  composure  with  which  she 
spoke  of  her  anticipated  release  from  the  pains  and 
sufferings  of  life.  Christ  was  her  portion,  and  she 
lived  in  communion  with  him,  certain  that  ere  long 
she  should  depart  and  be  with  him  forever. 

The  poor  Moslem  women  in  the  houses  adjoining 
her  room  used  to  come  in,  and  with  half-veiled  faces 
look  upon  her  calm  and  patient  face  with  wonder. 
Would  that  they  too  might  find  her  Saviour  precious 


LUCIYA  SHEKKUR.  \\f 

to  them,  in  their  hours  of  sickness,  suffering  and 
death  ! 

Truly,  there  is  no  religion  but  that  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  can  soften  the  pillow  of  suffering,  and 
take  away  the  sting  and  dread  of  death. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
the  higher  female  education  in  Syria,  is  the  early 
age  at  which  girls  are  married.  One  young  girl  at- 
tended the  Beirut  Seminary  for  two  years,  from  eight 
to  ten,  and  the  teachers  were  becoming  interested 
in  her  progress,  when  suddenly  her  parents  took  her 
out  of  the  school,  and  gave  her  to  a  man  in  marriage. 
After  the  festivities  of  the  marriage  week  were  over 
at  her  husband's  house,  she  went  home  to  visit  her 
mother,  taking  her  dolls  with  her  to  amuse  her- 
self! 

The  Arabic  journal  "  the  Jenneh''  of  Beirut,  con- 
tained a  letter  in  June,  1872,  from  its  Damascus  cor- 
respondent, praising  the  fecundity  of  Syria,  and 
stating  that  a  young  woman  who  was  married  at 
nine  and  a  half,  became  a  grandmother  at  twenty! 
Such  instances  are  not  uncommon  in  Damascus  and 
Hums,  where  the  chief  and  almost  the  only  concern 
of  parents  is  to  marry  off  their  daughters  as  early  as 
nature  will  allow,  without  education,  experience  or 
any  other  qualification  for  the  responsible  duties  of 
married  life.  When  the  above  mentioned  letter 
from  Damascus  was  published,  Dr.  Van  Dyck  took 
occasion  to  write  an  article  in  the  "  Neshra,"  the 
Missionary  Weekly,  of  which  he  is  the  editor,  ex- 
posing the  folly  and  criminality  of  such  early  mar- 


H8       THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

riages,  and  demonstrating  their  disastrous  effects  on 
society  at  large. 

Since  the  establishment  of  schools  and  seminaries 
of  a  high  grade  for  girls,  this  tendency  is  being  de- 
cidedly checked  in  the  vicinity  of  Beirut,  and  girls 
are  not  given  up  as  incorrigibly  old,  even  if  they 
reach  the  age  of  seventeen. 

Dr.  Meshakah  of  Damascus,  who  has  long  been 
distinguished  for  his  learned  and  eloquent  works  on 
the  Papacy,  is  a  venerable  white-bearded  patriarch  and 
his  wife  looks  as  if  she  were  his  daughter.  I  once 
asked  him  how  old  she  was  when  married,  and  he 
said  eleven.  I  asked  him  why  he  married  her  so 
young  ?  He  said  that  in  his  day,  young  girls  received 
no  training  at  home,  and  young  men  who  wished 
properly  trained  wives,  had  to  marry  them  young,  so 
as  to  educate  them  to  suit  themselves ! 

Education  is  rapidly  obviating  that  necessity,  and 
young  men  are  more  than  willing  that  girls  to  whom 
they  are  betrothed,  should  complete  their  education, 
lest  they  be  eclipsed  by  others  who  remain  longer  at 
school.  I  once  called  on  a  wealthy  native  merchant 
in  Beirut,  who  remarked  that  "  the  Europeans  have 
a  thing  in  their  country  which  we  have  not.  They 
call  it  ed-oo-cashion,  and  I  am  anxious  to  have  it  in- 
troduced into  Syria."  This  "  ed-oo-cashion"  is  al- 
ready settling  many  a  question  in  Syria  which  noth- 
ing else  could  settle,  and  the  natives  are  also  learn- 
ing that  something  more  than  mere  book-knowledge 
is  needed,  to  elevate  and  refine  the  family.  One  of 
the  most  direct  results  of  female  education  thus  far 


LUCIYA  SHEKKUR. 


in  Syria  has  been  the  abolition  from  certain  classes 
of  society  of  some  of  those  superstitious  fears  which 
harass  and  torment  the  ignorant  masses. 


CHAPTER  X. 

RAHEEL. 

"^TO  sketch  of  Woman's' Work  for  Syrian  women 
would  be  complete  which  did  not  give  some 
account  of  the  life  and  labors  of  that  pioneer  in  work 
for  Syrian  women,  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  H.  Smith,  wife  of 
Dr.  Eli  Smith.  She  reached  Beirut,  January  28, 
1834,  full  of  high  and  holy  resolves  to  devote  her  life 
to  the  benefit  of  her  Syrian  sisters.  From  the  first 
to  the  very  last  of  her  life  in  Syria,  this  was  the  one 
great  object  of  her  toils  and  prayers.  As  soon  as 
April  2,  she  writes,  "  Our  school  continues  to  prosper, 
and  I  love  the  children  exceedingly.  Do  pray  that 
God  will  bless  this  incipient  step  to  enlighten  the 
women  of  this  country.  You  cannot  conceive  of 
their  deplorable  ignorance.  I  feel  it  more  and  more 
every  day.  Their  energies  are  expended  in  outward 
adorning  of  plaiting  the  hair  and  gold  and  pearls  and 
costly  array,  literally  so.  I  close  with  one  request, 
that  you  will  pray  for  a  revival  of  religion  in  Beirut.''' 
Again  she  writes,  June  30,  1834,  "  I  feel  somewhat 
thoughtful,  this  afternoon,  in  consequence  of  having 
heard  of  the  ready  consent  of  the  friends  of  a  little 
girl,  that  I  should  take  her  as  I  proposed,  and  edu- 
cate her.  I  am  anxious  to  do  it,  and  yet  my  experi- 
ence and  observation  in  reference  to  such  a  course, 


"b 

•1    ^ 

o 


-q 


?  u 


•3 


• 

b 


RAH  EEL.  121 

and  my  knowledge  of  the  sinful  heart  of  a  child,  lead 
me  to  think  I  am  undertaking  a  great  thing.  I  feel, 
too,  that  my  example  and  my  instruction  will  control 
her  eternal  destiny."  This  girl  was  Raheel  Ata. 
Again,  August  16:  "  It  is  a  great  favor  that  so  many 
of  the  men  and  boys  can  rc.v '  Alas,  our  poor  sis- 
ters !  the  curse  rests  emphatically  upon  them. 
Among  the  Druze  princesses,  some,  perhaps  the 
majority,  furnish  an  exception  and  can  read.  Their 
sect  is  favorable  to  learning.  Not  so  with  the  Maron- 
ites.  I  have  one  scholar  from  these  last,  but  when 
I  have  asked  the  others  who  have  been  here  if  they 
wished  to  read,  they  have  replied  most  absolutely  in 
the  negative,  saying  that  it  was  for  boys,  and  not 
for  them.  I  have  heard  several  women  acknowledge 
that  they  knew  no  more  than  the  donkeys." 

August  23.  A  Maronite  priest  compelled  two  lit- 
tle girls  to  leave  her  school,  but  the  Greek  priest 
sent  "  his  own  daughter,  a  pretty,  rosy-cheeked  girl" 
to  be  taught  by  Mrs.  Smith.  On  the  22d  of  Sep- 
tember, 1834,  she  wrote  from  B'hamdun,  a  village 
five  hours  from  Beirilt,  on  Lebanon,  "Could  the  fe- 
males of  Syria  be  educated  and  regenerated,  the 
whole  face  of  the  country  would  change  ;  even,  as 
I  said  to  an  Arab  a  few  days  since,  to  the  appear- 
ance of  the  houses  and  the  roads.  One  of  our  little 
girls,  whom  I  taught  before  going  to  the  mountains, 
came  to  see  me  a  day  or  two  since,  and  talked  in- 
cessantly about  her  love  for  the  school,  and  the 
errors  of  the  people  here,  saying  that  they  '  cared 
not  for  Jesus  Christ,  but  only  for  the  Virgin  Mary.'  " 
6 


122  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

October  8.  She  says,  "A  servant  woman  of 
Mrs.  Whiting,  who  has  now  lived  long  enough  with 
her  to  love  her  and  appreciate  her  principles,  about 
a  year  and  a  half  since  remarked  to  some  of  the 
Arabs,  that  the  people  with  whom  she  lived  did 
'  not  lie,  nor  steal,  nor  quarrel,  nor  do  any  such 
things;  but  poor  creatures,'  said  she,  'they  have  no 
religion.' " 

On  the  22d  of  October,  she  wrote  again,  "  Yes- 
terday I  went  up  to  Mr.  Bird's  to  consult  about  the 
plan  of  a  school-house  now  commenced  for  females.  I 
can  hardly  believe  that  such  a  project  is  actually  in 
progress,  and  I  hail  it  as  the  dawn  of  a  happy  change 
in  Syria.  Two  hundred  dollars  have  been  subscrib- 
ed by  friends  in  this  vicinity,  and  I  told  Mr.  B.  that 
if  necessary  he  might  expend  fifty  more  upon  the 
building,  as  our  Sabbath  School  in  Norwich  had 
pledged  one  hundred  a  year  for  female  education  in 
Syria." 

The  principal  contributor  to  this  fund  was  Mrs. 
Alexander  Tod,  formerly  Miss  Gliddon,  daughter  of 
the  U.  S.  Consul  in  Alexandria. 

The  building  stood  near  where  the  present  Church 
in  Beirut  stands,  and  was  removed,  and  the  stones 
used  in  the  extension  of  the  old  Chapel.  In  the 
year  1866  Mr.  Tod  revisited  Beirut  and  contributed 
.£100  towards  the  erection  of  the  new  Female  Sem- 
inary, saying  that  as  Mrs.  Tod  aided  in  the  first  Fe- 
male Seminary  building  in  Beirut,  he  wished  to  aid 
in  the  second.  The  school-house  was  a  plain  struct- 
ure, and  was  afterwards  used  as  a  boy's  school,  and 


R  A  HEEL.  123 

the  artist  who  photographed  the  designs  printed  in 
this  volume  received  his  education  there  under  the 
instruction  of  the  late  Shahin  Sarkis,  husband  of 
Azizy. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  1834,  Mrs.  Smith 
writes,  "  Yesterday  I  commenced  the  female  school 
with  four  scholars,  which  were  increased  to  ten  to- 
day, and  the  number  will  probably  continue  to  aug- 
ment as  before  from  week  to  week.  As  I  walked  home 
about  sunset  this  evening,  I  thought,  '  Can  it  be  that 
I  air.  a  schoolmistress,  and  the  only  one  in  all  Syria  ? ' 
and  I  tripped  along  with  a  quick  step  amid  Egypt- 
ians, Turks  and  Arabs,  Moslems  and  Jews,  to  my 
quiet  and  pleasant  home." 

November  9.  "  I  sometimes  indulge  the  thought 
that  God  has  sent  me  to  the  females  of  Syria — to  the 
little  girls,  of  whom  I  have  a  favorite  school — for  their 
good." 

Januarys,  1835.  "On  Friday  I  distributed  re- 
wards to  twenty-three  little  girls  belonging  to  my 
school,  which,  as  they  are  all  poor,  consisted  of  cloth- 
ing. Our  Sabbath  School  also  increases.  Eighteen 
were  present  last  Sabbath." 

On  the  nth  of  January  Dr.  Thomson  wrote, 
"  Mrs.  Smith's  female  school  prospers  wonderfully, 
but  it  is  the  altar  of  her  own  health ;  and  I  fear  that 
in  the  flame  that  goeth  up  toward  heaven  from  off 
that  altar,  she  will  soon  ascend  as  did  Manoah's 
angel.  We  can  hardly  spare  her ;  she  is  our  only 
hope  for  a  female  school  in  Beirut  at  present/' 

The  state  of  society  in  Syria  at  that   time  is  well 


124 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


pictured  in  the  following  language,  used  by  Mrs. 
Smith  in  a  letter  dated  February  1,2,  1835  :  "  Ex- 
cepting the  three  or  four  native  converts,  we  know 
not  one  pious  religious  teacher,  one  judicious  parent, 
one  family  circle  regulated  by  the  fear  of  God  ;  no, 
not  even  one  !  " 

11  I  wish  I  had  strength  to  do  more,  but  my  school 
and  my  studies  draw  upon  my  energies  continually." 
Even  at  that  early  day  Moslem  girls  came  to  be 
taught  by  Mrs.  Smith.  She  writes  June  2,  "  A  few 
days  since,  one  of  my  little  Moslem  scholars,  whose 
father  was  once  an  extensive  merchant  here,  came 
and  invited  me  to  make  a  call  upon  her  mother.  I 
took  Raheel  and  accompanied  her  to  their  house 
which  is  in  our  neighborhood.  I  found  it  a  charming 
spot  and  very  neatly  kept.  Hospitality  is  regarded 
here  as  a  religious  act,  I  think,  and  a  reputation  for 
it  is  greatly  prized." 

In  July  she  wrote  of  what  has  not  ceased  to  be  a 
trial  to  all  missionaries  in  Beirut  for  the  past  forty 
years,  the  necessity  of  removing  to  the  mountains 
during  the  hot  summer  months.  The  climate  of  the 
plain  is  debilitating  to  foreigners,  and  missionary 
families  are  obliged  to  spend  three  months  of  the  hot 
season  in  the  Lebanon  villages.  "  My  school  inter- 
ests me  more  and  more  every  day,  and  I  do  not  love 
to  think  of  suspending  it  even  for  a  few  weeks  during 
the  hot  season.  Day  before  yesterday  a  \vealthy 
Jewish  lady  came  with  her  two  daughters  to  the 
school,  and  begged  me  to  take  the  youngest  as  a 
scholar." 


R A  HE  EL.  12$ 

July  19.  "  At  our  Sabbath  School  to-day  were 
twenty-eight  scholars,  twenty-one  girls  and  seven 
boys." 

July  31.  "To-day  I  closed  my  school  for  the 
month  of  August  by  the  distribution  of  rewards  to 
tliirty  little  girls.  The  American  and  English  Con- 
suls and  a  few  Arab  friends  were  present,  and  ex- 
pressed much  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  so  many  young 
natives  in  their  clean  dress.  A  few  of  the  more  edu- 
cated scholars  read  a  little  in  the  New  Testament." 

August  8.  u  On  Saturday  I  closed  my  school 
for  the  month  of  August.  It  was  increasing  every 
day  in  numbers  and  I  would  gladly  have  continued 
it.  Last  Sabbath  we  had  at  the  Sabbath  School 
forty-six  scholars,  a.  fourth  of  whom  were  Moslems" 

September  29.  ':  Yesterday  I  commenced  my 
school  again  with  twenty  scholars;  which,  for  the  first 
day,  was  a  good  number.  Mrs.  Whiting  has  ten  lit- 
tle Moslem  girls  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  promise  of 
more. " 

December  14.  "  On  Saturday,  our  native  female 
prayer-meeting  consisted  of  twenty,  besides  two  chil- 
dren. Fourteen  were  Arabs,  more  than  were  ever 
present  before.  We  met  in  the  girls'  school  room, 
where  we  intend  in  future  to  assemble.  We  sung 
part  of  a  psalm,  as  we  have  begun  to  teach  music  in 
our  school.  We  find  the  children  quite  as  capable 
of  forming  musical  sounds  as  those  in  our  own  coun- 
try ;  but  alas,  we  have  no  psalms  or  hymns  adapted  to 
their  capacities.  The  Arabic  cannot  be  simplified 
like  the  English,  without  doing  violence  to  Arab 


126  THE   WOMEN  OF    THE  ARABS. 

taste ;  at  least  such  is  the  opinion  now.  What 
changes  may  be  wrought  in  the  language,  we  cannot 
tell.  Of  this  obstacle  in  the  instruction  of  the  young 
here,  you  have  not  perhaps  thought.  It  is  a  pain- 
ful thought  to  us,  that  children 's  literature,  if  I  may 
so  term  it,  is  incompatible  with  the  genius  of  this  lan- 
guage :  of  course,  infant  school  lessons  must  be  bereft 
of  many  of  their  attractions." 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  whether  present 
missionary  experience  differs  from  that  of  Mrs.  Smith 
and  her  husband  in  1835,  with  regard  to  children's 
literature  in  the  Arabic  language. 

In  1858,  Mr.  Ford  prepared,  with  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Bistany,  (the  husband  of  "  Raheel,"  Mrs.  Smith's 
adopted  child,)  a  series  of  children's  Scripture  Tracts 
in  simple  and  yet  perfectly  correct  Arabic,  so  that 
the  youngest  child  can  understand  them.  In  1862, 
we  printed  the  first  Children's  Hymn-book,  partly 
at  the  expense  of  the  girls  in  Rufka's  school.  We 
have  now  in  Arabic  about  eighty  children's  hymns, 
and  a  large  number  of  tracts  and  story  books  de- 
signed for  children.  We  also  publish  an  Illustrated 
Children's  Monthly,  called  the  "  Koukab  es  Subah," 
"  The  Morning  Star,"  and  the  children  read  it  with 
the  greatest  eagerness. 

The  Koran,  which  is  the  standard  of  classic  Arab- 
ic, cannot  be  changed,  and  hence  can  never  be  a 
book  for  children.  It  cannot  be  a  family  book,  or  a 
women's  book.  It  cannot  attract  the  minds  of  the 
young,  with  that  charm  which  hangs  around  the  ex- 
quisitely simple  and  beautiful  narratives  of  the  Old 


RAHEEL. 


127 


and  New  Testament.  It  is  a  gem  of  Arabic  poetry, 
but  like  a  gem,  crystalline  and  unchanging.  It  has 
taken  a  mighty  hold  upon  the  Eastern  world,  because 
of  its  Oriental  style  and  its  eloquent  assertion  of  the 
Divine  Unity.  It  is  reverenced,  but  not  loved,  and 
will  stand  where  it  is  while  the  world  moves  on. 
Every  reform  in  government,  toleration  and  material 
improvement  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  Persia  and 
Egypt,  is  made  in  spite  of  the  Koran  and  contrary 
to  its  spirit.  The  printing  of  the  Koran  is  unlawful, 
but  it  is  being  printed.  All  pictures  of  living  ob- 
jects are  unlawful,  but  the  Sultan  is  photographed, 
Abd  el  Kader  is  photographed,  the  "  Sheikh  ul 
Islam"  is  photographed.  European  shoes  are  un- 
lawful because  sewed  with  a  swine's  bristle,  but  Mos- 
lem Muftis  strut  about  the  streets  in  French  gaiters, 
and  the  women  of  their  harems  tottle  about  in  the 
most  absurd  of  Parisian  high-heeled  slippers. 

The  Arabic  Bible  translated  by  Drs.  Eli  Smith 
and  Cornelius  Van  Dyck,  is  voweled  with  the  gram- 
matical accuracy  and  beauty  of  the  Koran  with  the 
aid  of  a  learned  Mohammedan  Mufti,  and  yet  has  all 
the  elegant  simplicity  of  the  original  and  is  intelligi- 
ble to  every  Arab,  old  and  young,  who  is  capable  of 
reading  at  all.  The  stories  of  Joseph,  Moses,  and 
David,  of  Esther,  Daniel  and  Jonah  are  as  well 
adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  children  in  the 
Arabic  as  in  the  English. 

Not  a  few  of  the  hymns  in  the  Children's  Hymn 
book  are  original,  written  by  M.  Ibrahim  Sarkis, 
husband  of  Miriam  of  Aleppo,  and  M.  Asaad  Shi- 


I28  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

doody,  husband  of  Hada.  This  Hymn  book  was  pub- 
lished in  1862,  with  Plates  presented  by  Dr.  Robin- 
son's Sabbath  School  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Brooklyn. 

This  digression  seemed  necessary,  in  order  to 
show  the  great  progress  that  has  been  made  since 
1836,  in  preparing  a  religious  literature.  It  is  no 
longer  true  as  in  Mrs.  Smith's  day,  "  that  we  have  no 
psalms  or  hymns  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  children. 
Nor  is  it  longer  true  that  "  children  s  literatiire  is  in- 
compatible with  the  genius  of 'the  Arabic  language" 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  young  women  in  the 
"  Female  Academy  at  Norwich,"  February,  1836, 
Mrs.  Smith  gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  "  average 
woman  "  of  Syria  in  her  time,  and  the  description 
holds  true  of  nine-tenths  of  the  women  at  the  present 
day.  There  are  now  native  Christian  homes,  not 
the  least  attractive  of  which  is  the  home  of  her  own 
little  protege  Raheel,  but  the  great  mass  continue  as 
they  were  forty  years  ago.  She  says,  "  My  dear 
friends,  will  you  send  your  thoughts  to  this,  which  is 
not  a  heathen,  but  an  unevangelized  country.  I  will 
not  invite  you  to  look  at  our  little  female  school  of 
twenty  or  thirty,  because  these  form  but  a  drop 
among  the  thousands  and  thousands  of  youth 
throughout  Syria  ;  although  I  might  draw  a  contrast 
even  from  this  not  a  little  in  your  favor.  But  we 
will  speak  of  the  young  Syrian  females  at  large, 
moving  in  one  unbroken  line  to  the  land  of  darkness 
and  sorrow.  Among  them  you  will  find  many  a  fine 
form  and  beautiful  face  ;  but  alas  !  the  perfect  work- 


RAHEEL. 


I29 


manship  of  their  Creator  is  rendered  tame  and  insip- 
id, for  want  of  that  mental  and  moral  culture  which 
gives  a  peculiar  charm  to  the  human  countenance. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  bring  the  females  of  this 
country  before  you  in  so  vivid  a  manner  that  you 
can  form  a  correct  idea  of  them.  But  select  from 
among  your  acquaintances  a  lady  who  is  excessively 
weak,  vain  and  trifling;  who  has  no  relish  for  any 
intellectual  or  moral  improvement ;  whose  conversa- 
tion is  altogether  confined  to  dress,  parties,  balls,  ad- 
miration, marriage  ;  whose  temper  and  faults  have 
never  been  corrected  by  her  parents,  but  who  is 
following,  unchecked,  all  the  propensities  of  a  fallen, 
corrupt  nature.  Perhaps  you  will  not  be  able  to  find 
any  such,  though  I  have  occasionally  met  with  them 
in  America.  If  you  succeed,  however,  in  bringing  a 
person  of  this  character  to  your  mind,  then  place  the 
thousands  of  girls,  and  the  women,  too,  of  this  land, 
once  the  land  of  patriarchs,  prophets  and  apostles,  in 
Her  dass."  "  These  weak-minded  Syrian  females  are 
not  attentive  to  personal  cleanliness;  neither  have 
they  a  neat  and  tasteful  style  of  dress.  Their  ap- 
parel is  precisely  such  as  the  Apostle  recommended 
that  Christian  females  should  avoid  ;  while  the  orna- 
ment of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit  is  thrown  wholly  out 
of  the  account.  They  have  no  books,  and  no  means 
of  moral  or  intellectual  improvement.  It  is  consid- 
ered a  disgrace  for  a  female  to  know  how  to  read  and 
write,  and  a  serious  obstacle  to  her  marriage,  which 
is  the  principal  object  of  the  parent's  heart.  This  ab- 
horrence of  lean,'  ing  in  females,  exists  most  strongly 
6* 


150 


THE  irOJfE-V  Of  THE  AftABS. 


in  the  higher  classes.  Nearly  every  pupil  in  our 
school  is  very  indigent.  Of  God's  word  they  under- 
stand nothing,  for  a  girl  is  taken  to  church  perhaps 
but  once  a  year,  where  nothing,  is  seen  among  the 
women  but  talking  and  trifling;  of  course  she  attaches 
no  solemnity  to  the  worship  of  God.  No  sweet  do- 
mestic circle  of  lather,  brother,  mother  and  sister,  all 
capable  -of  promoting  mutual  cheerfulness  and  inn 
provement,  greets  her  in  her  own  house.  I  do  not 
mean  to  imply  that  there  exists  no  family  affection 
among  them,  for  this  tie  is  often  very  strong;  but  it 
has  no  foundation  in  respect,  and  is  not  employed  to 
promote  elevation  of  character.  The  men  sit  and 
'smoke  their  pipes  in  one  apartment,  while  in 
another  the  women  duster  upon  the  floor,  and  with 
loud  and  vociferous  voices  gossip  with  their  neigh- 
bors. The  very  language  of  the  females  is  of  a  lower 
order  than  that  of  the  men,  which  renders  it  almost 
impossible  for  them  to  comprehend  spiritual  and  ab- 
stract subjects,  when  first  presented  to  their  minds. 
I  know  not  how  often,  when  I  have  attempted  to 
converse  with  them,  they  have  acknowledged  that 
they  did  not  understand  me,  or  have  interrupted  me 
by  alluding  to  some  mode  or  article  of  dress,  or 
something  quite  as  foolish."  *•  Thus  you  see,  my 
young  friends,  how  unhappy  is  the  condition  of  the 
females  of  Syria,  and  how  many  laborers  are  wanted 
to  cultivate  this  wide  field.  On  the  great  day  of 
final  account,  the  young  females  of  Syria,  of  India, 
of  every  inhabited  portion  of  the  globe,  who  are 
upon  the  stage  of  life  with  you,  will  rise  up,  either 


131 

to  call  you  blessed,  or  to  enhance  your  condemna- 
tion." "God  is  furnishing  American  females  their 
high  privileges,  with  the  intention  of  calling  them 
forth  into  the  wide  fields  of  ignorance  and  error, 
which  the  world  exhibits.  I  look  over  my  country 
and  think  of  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  young 
ladies,  intelligent,  amiable  and  capable,  who  are  as- 
sembled in  schools  and  academies  there;  and  then 
turn  my  eye  to  Jerusalem,  Hebron,  Nazareth,  Sychar, 
Damascus,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Jaffa,  and  to  the  numerous 
villages  of  Mount  Lebanon,  and  think,  'Why  this 
inequality  of  condition  and  privileges?  Why  can 
there  not  be  stationed  at  every  one  of  those  morally 
desolate  places,  at  least  one  missionary  family,  and 
one  single  female  as  a  teacher?  Does  not  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Good  Shepherd,  require  it  of  His  youth- 
ful friends  in  America,  that  from  love  to  Him,  grati- 
tude for  their  own  distinguished  mercies,  compassion 
for  perishing  souls,  and  the  expectation  of  perfect 
rest  and  happiness  in  heaven,  they  should  spread 
themselves  over  the  wide  world,  and  feed  the  sheep 
and  the  lambs  scattered  without  a  shepherd  upon 
the  mountains  ? "  Yes,  He  requires  it,  and  angels 
will  yet  behold  it;  but  shall  we  not  see  it  in  our 
day?" 

Great  changes  have  come  over  Syria  since  the 
above  words  were  written.  Not  less  than  twelve 
high  schools  for  girls  have  been  established  since 
then  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  not  far  from  forty 
common  schools,  exclusively  for  girls,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  different  Missionary  Societies. 


132  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

In  February,  1836,  Mrs.  Smith  also  undertook 
the  work  of  systematic  visiting  among-  the  mothers  of 
her  pupils.  She  says,  "  Perhaps  it  will  be  a  very  long 
time  before  we  shall  see  any  fruit.  Indeed  those 
who  enter  into  our  labors  may  gather  it  in  our  stead  ; 
yet  I  am  anxious  that  we  should  persevere  until  we 
die,  though  no  apparent  effect  be  produced." 

In  April,  1836,  she  wrote,  "My  mind  is  much 
upon  a  female  boarding  school ;  and  if  I  can  get  the 
promise  of  ten  girls,  we  shall,  God  willing,  remove 
the  press  from  our  house,  and  commence  one  in  the 
fall." 

In  May  she  commenced  a  new  term  of  her  day 
school  with  twenty-six  scholars.  She  says,  "  The 
wife  of  a  persecuted  Druze  is  very  anxious  to  learn 
to  read,  and  she  comes  to  our  house  every  day  to 
get  instruction  from  Raheel."  She  also  says,  "  We 
feel  the  want  of  books 'exceedingly.  The  little  girl 
whom  I  took  more  than  a  year  since,  and  who  ad- 
vances steadily  in  intelligence  and  knowledge,  has 
no  book  but  the  Bible  to  read,  not  one."  Then 
again,  "  Should  our  press  get  into  successful  opera- 
tion, I  despair  in  doing  anything  in  the  way  of  in- 
fant schools,  because  the  Arabic  language  cannot  be 
simplified,  at  least  under  existing  prejudices.  If 
every  hymn  and  little  story  must  be  dressed  up  in 
the  august  habiliments  of  the  Koran,  what  child  of 
three  and  six  years  old  will  be  wiser  and  better  for 
them  !  How  complete  is  the  dominion  of  the  Great 
Adversary  over  this  people !  All  the  links  of  the 
chain  must  be  separated,  one  by  one.  And  what  a 


R  A  HEEL. 


133 


long,  I  had  almost  said,  tedious  process !  But  I  for- 
get that  to  each  one  will  be  assigned  a  few  only  of 
these  links.  We  are  doing  a  little,  perhaps,  in  this 
work ;  if  faithful,  we  shall  resf  in  heaven,  and  others 
will  come  and  take  our  places  and  our  work." 

On  the  eleventh  of  June,  Mrs.  Smith's  health 
had  become  so  impaired  from  the  dampness  of  the 
floor  and  walls  of  her  school  building,  that  her  phy- 
sician advised  a  sea  voyage  for  her.-  After  suffering 
shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  and  enduring 
great  hardships,  she  reached  Smyrna,  where  she  died 
on  the  3Oth  of  September,  in  the  triumphs  of  the 
Gospel.  Her  Memoir  is  a  book  worthy  of  being 
read  by  every  Christian  woman  engaged  in  the  Mas- 
'ter's  service. 

In  a  letter  written  from  Smyrna,  July  28,  she  says, 
"  I  had  set  my  heart  much  upon  taking  Raheel  with 
me.  Parents,  however,  in  Syria,  have,  an  especial 
aversion  to  parting  with  their  children  for  foreign 
countries.  One  of  my  last  acts  therefore  was  to 
make  a  formal  committal  of  her  into  the  hands  of 
my  kind  friend  Miss  Williams.  I  had  become  so 
strongly  attached  to  the  little  girl,  and  felt  myself  so 
much  rewarded  for  all  my  efforts  with  her,  that  the 
circumstances  of  this  separation  were  perhaps  more 
trying  than  any  associated  with  our  departure." 

Mrs.  Smith  had  from  the  first  a  desire  to  take  a 
little  Arab  girl  to  be  brought  up  in  her  family,  and 
at  length  selected  Raheel,  one  of  the  most  promis- 
ing scholars  in  her  school,  when  about  eight  years  of 
age,  and  with  the  consent  of  her  parents  adopted 


134 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


her.  In  her  care,  attentions  and  affections,  she  took 
almost  the  rank  of  a  daughter.  She  was  trained  to 
habits  of  industry,  truth  and  studiousness,  and 
although  Mrs.  S.  had  been  but  nine  months  in  the 
country  when  she  adopted  her,  she  commenced 
praying  with  her  in  Arabic  from  the  very  first. 

Dr.  Eli  Smith  says,  "  In  a  word,  the  expectations 
Mrs.  Smith  had  formed  in  taking  her,  were  fully 
answered ;  and  she  was  often  heard  to  say,  that  she 
had  every  day  been  amply  repaid  for  the  pains  be- 
stowed upon  her.  It  will  not  be  wondered  at,  that 
her  affections  became  entwined  very  closely  around 
so  promising  a  pupil,  and  that  the  attachment  as- 
sumed much  of  the  character  of  parental  kindness. 
Mrs.  Smith's  sharpest  trial,  perhaps,  at  her  departure 
from  Ben-fit,  arose  from  leaving  her  behind." 

After  the  departure  of  Mrs.  Smith,  her  fellow- 
laborer,  Miss  Williams,  afterwards  Mrs.  Hebard, 
took  charge  of  Raheel,  who  remained  with  her  five 
years.  She  then  lived  successively  with  Mrs.  Lan- 
neau  and  Mrs.  Beadle,  and  lastly  with  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
De  Forest. 

When  in  the  family  of  Dr.  De  Forest,  she  became 
engaged  to  be  married  to  Mr.  Butrus  Bistany,  a 
learned  native  of  the  Protestant  Church,  who  was 
employed  by  the  Mission  as  a  teacher.  Her  mother 
and  friends  were  opposed  to  the  engagement,  as 
they  wished  to  marry  her  to  a  man  of  their  own 
selection.  On  Carnival  evening,  February  20,  in 
the  year  1843,  her  mother  invited  her  to  come  and 
spend  the  feast  with  the  family.  She  hesitated,  but 


RAHEEL. 


«35 


finally  consented  to  go  with  Dr.  De  Forest  and  call 
upon  her  family  friends  and  return  before  night. 
After  sitting  several  hours,  the  Doctor  arose  to  go 
and  she  prepared  to  follow  him.  Her  mother  pro- 
tested, saying  that  they  would  not  allow  her  to 
return  to  her  home  with  the  missionary.  Finding 
that  the  mother  and  brother-in-law  were  preparing 
to  resist  her  departure  by  violence,  Dr.  De  Forest 
retired,  sending  a  native  friend  to  stay  in  the  house 
until  his  return.  He  repaired  to  the  Pasha  and  laid 
the  case  before  him.  The  Pasha  declared  her  free 
to  choose  her  own  home,  as  she  was  legally  of  age, 
and  sent  a  janizary  with  Dr.  De  Forest  to  examine 
the  case  and  insure  her  liberty  of  action.  On  enter- 
ing the  house,  the  janizary  called  for  Raheel  and 
asked  her  whether  she  wished  to  go  home  or  stay 
with  her  mother?  She  replied,  "  I  wish  to  go  home 
to  Mrs.  De  Forest."  The  janizary  then  wrote  down 
her  request,  and  told  her  to  go.  She  arose  to  go, 
but  could  not  find  her  shoes.  There  was  some  delay, 
when  her  brother-in-law  seized  her  arm  and  at- 
tempted to  drag  her  to  an  inner  room.  The  Pasha's 
officer  seized  the  other  arm  and  the  poor  girl  was  in 
danger  of  having  her  shoulders  dislocated.  At 
length  the  officer  prevailed  and  she  escaped.  Her 
mother  and  the  women  who  had  assembled  from  the 
neighborhood,  then  set  up  a  terrific  shriek,  like  a 
funeral  wail,  "She's  lost!  she's  dead!  wo  is  me!" 
It  was  all  pre-arranged.  The  brother-in-law  "had 
been  around  to  the  square  to  a  rendezvous  of  sol- 
diers, and  told  them  that  an  attempt  would  be  made 


1^6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

to  abduct  his  sister  by  force,  and  if  they  heard  a 
shriek  from  the  women,  to  hasten  to  his  house.  The 
rabble  of  soldiers  wanted  no  better  pastime  than 
such  a  melee  among  the  infidels,  and  promised  to 
come.  When  they  heard  the  noise  they  started  on 
a  run.  Raheel,  having  suspected  something- of  the 
kind,  induced  Dr.  De  Forest  to  take  another  road, 
and  as  they  turned  the  corner  to  enter  the  mission 
premises,  they  saw  the  rabble  running  in  hot  haste 
towards  her  mother's  house,  only  to  find  that  the 
bird  had  flown. 

In  the  following  summer  she  was  married  to  Mr. 
Bistany,  who  was  for  eight  years  assistant  of  Dr. 
Eli  Smith  in  the  work  of  Bible  translation,  and  for 
twenty  years  Dragoman  of  the  American  Consulate. 
He  is  now  Principal  of  a  private  Boarding  School 
for  boys,  called  the  "  Medriset  el  Wutaniyet"  or 
"Native  School,"  which  has  about  150  pupils  of  all 
sects.  He  and  his  son  Selim  Effendi  are  the  editors 
and  proprietors  also  of  three  Arabic  journals ;  the 
Jenan,  a  Monthly  Literary  Magazine,  illustrated  by 
wood-cuts  made  by  a  native-  artist,  and  having  a 
circulation  of  about  1500;  the  Jenneh,  a  semi-weekly 
newspaper  published  Tuesday  and  Friday;  and  the 
Jeneineh,  published  Monday,  Wednesday,  Thursday 
and  Saturday.  There  is  not  a  more  industrious 
man  in  Syria  than  Mr.  Bistany,  and  he  is  doing  a 
great  work  in  the  enlightenment  of  his  countrymen. 

Raheel's  home  is  one  of  affection,  decorum,  and 
Christian  refinement,  and  she  has  fulfilled  the  high- 
est hopes  and  prayers  of  her  devoted  foster  mother, 


RAH  EEL. 


137 


in  discharging  the  duties  of  mother,  neighbor,  church 
member,  and  friend.  May  every  missionary  woman 
be  rewarded  in  seeing  such  fruits  of  her  labors ! 

In  January,  1866,  Sarah,  one  of  Raheel's  daugh- 
ters, named  after  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Smith,  was  attacked 
by  typhoid  pneumonia.  From  the  first  she  was  deeply 
impressed  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  in  deep 
concern  about  her  soul.  She  sent  for  me,  and  I 
found  her  in  a  very  hopeful  state  of  mind.  Day 
after  day  I  called  and  conversed  and  prayed  with  her, 
and  her  views  of  her  need  of  Christ  were  most  clear 
and  comforting,  and  she  wished  her  testimony  to  His 
love  to  be  known  among  all  her  young  companions. 
Her  friends  from  the  school  gathered  at  her  request 
to  see  her,  and  she  urged  them  to  come  to  Christ, 
and  several  who  have  since  united  with  the  Church 
traced  their  first  awakening  to  her  words  on  her 
death-bed. 

One  day  Sarah  said  to  me,  "  How  thankful  I  am 
for  this  sickness !  It  has  been  the  voice  of  God  to 
my  soul !  I  have  given  myself  to  Jesus  forever  ?  I 
have  been  a  great  sinner,  and  I  have  been  thinking 
about  my  sins,  and  my  need  of  a  Saviour,  and  I  am 
resolved  to  live  for  Him  hereafter."  On  her  father's 
coming  into  the  room,  she  said  in  English,  "  Papa,  I 
am  so  happy  that  the  Lord  sent  this  sickness  upon 
me.  You  cannot  tell  how  I  thank  him  for  it." 

After  a  season. spent  in  prayer,  I  urged  her,  on 
leaving,  to  cast  herself  entirely  on  the  Saviour  of 
sinners,  before  another  hour  should  pass.  The  next 
day  as  I  entered  the  room,  she  said,  "  I  am  at  peace 


I38  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS, 

now.  I  did  cast  myself  on  Jesus  and  He  received 
me.  I  know  His  blood  has  washed  my  sins  away." 
She  had  expressed  some  fear  that  she  might  not  be 
able  to  live  a  consistent  Christian  life  should  she  re- 
cover, "  but,"  said  she,  "  I  could  trust  in  Christ  to 
sustain  me."  After  a  few  words  of  counsel  and 
prayer,  and  reading  a  portion  of  Scripture,  she  ex- 
clainaed,  "  It  is  all  one  now,  whether  I  die  or  live. 
I  am  ready  to  go  or  stay.  The  Lord  knows  best." 

At  the  last  interview  between  her  and  her  father, 
she  expressed  her  determination  to  make  the  Bible 
henceforth  her  study  and  guide,  and  requested  him 
to  read  the  I4th  chapter  of  John,  which  seemed  to 
give  her  great  comfort.  Soon  after  that  she  ceased 
to  recognize  her  friends,  and  on  Monday  night,  Jan- 
uary 5,  she  gently  fell  asleep.  I  was  summoned  to 
the  house  at  2  A.  M.  by  a  young  man  who  said,  "  She 
is  much  worse,  hasten."  On  reaching  the  house  I 
met  Rufka,  teacher  of  the  Seminary,  who  exclaimed, 
"  She  is  gone,  she  is  gone."  Entering  the  mukod 
room,  I  found  all  the  family  assembled.  There  were 
no  shrieks  and  screams  and  loud  wailings,  as  is  the 
universal  custom  in  this  land.  All  were  seated,  and 
the  father,  Abu  Selim,  was  reading  that  chapter 
which  Sarah  had  asked  him  to  read.  I  then  led  the 
family  in  prayer,  and  all  were  much  comforted.  She 
had  lived  a  blameless  life,  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
her,  and  had  been  a  faithful  and  exemplary  daugh- 
ter and  sister,  but  her  only  trust  at  the  last  was  in 
her  Saviour.  She  saw  in  her  past  life  only  sin,  and 
hoped  for  salvation  in  the  blood  of  Christ  alone. 


R A  HEEL. 


139 


The  funeral  was  attended  by  a  great  concourse  of 
people  of  all  sects,  arrd  the  Protestant  chapel  was 
crowded. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HUMS. 

HP  HE  city  of  Hums,  the  ancient  Emessa,  is  situ- 
ated  about  one  mile  east  of  the  river  Orontes, 
and  about  half  way  between  Aleppo  and  Damascus. 
It  is  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  and  fertile  plain,  extend- 
ing to  Palmyra  on  the  east,  and  to  the  Orontes  on 
the  west.  With  the  exception  .of  a  few  mud-built 
villages  along  the  east  and  near  the  city,  there  is  no 
settled  population  between  Hums  and  Palmyra. 
The  wild  roving  Bedawin  sweep  the  vast  plains  in 
every  direction,  and  only  a  few  years  ago,  the  great 
gates  of  Hums  were  frequently  closed  at  midday  to 
prevent  the  incursion  of  these  rough  robbers  of  the 
desert.  On  the  west  of  the  city  are  beautiful  gar- 
dens and  orchards  of  cherry,  walnut,  apricot,  plum, 
apple,  peach,  olive,  pomegranate,  fig  and  pear  trees, 
and  rich  vineyards  cover  the  fields  on  the  south.  It 
is  a  clean  and  compact  town  of  about  25,000  inhabi- 
tants, of  whom  7000  are  Greek  Christians,  3000  Jacob- 
ites, and  the  rest  Mohammedans.  The  houses  are 
built  of  sun-dried  bricks  and  black  basaltic  rock,  and 
the  streets  are  beautifully  paved  with  small  square 
blocks  of  the  same  rock,  giving  it  a  neat.and  clean 
appearance.  There  are  few  windows  on  the  street ; 


HUMS. 


141 


the  houses  are  one  story  high,  with  diminutive  doors, 
not  more  than  four  feet  high  ;  and  the  low  dull  walls 
stretching  along  the  streets,  give  the  city  a  dismal 
and  monotonous  appearance.  The  reason  of  build- 
ing the  doors  so  low,  is  to  prevent  the  quartering  of 
Turkish  government  horsemen  on  their  families,  as 
well  as  to  prevent  the  Bedawin  Arabs  from  plunder- 
ing them.  On  the  southwest  corner  of  the  city 
stands  an  ancient  castle  in  ruins,  built  on  an  artificial 
mound  of  earth  of  colossal  size,  which  was  once  faced 
with  square  blocks  of  black  trap  rock,  but  this  facing 
has  been  all  stripped  off  to  build  the  modern  city. 

The  people  are  simple  and  country-like  in  dress 
and  manners,  and  the  most  of  them  have  a  cow- 
yard  within  the  courts  of  their  houses,  thus  combin- 
ing the 'pastoral  with  the  citizen  life.  The  majority 
of  the  Greeks  are  silk-weavers  and  shoemakers,  weav- 
ing girdles,  scarfs  and  robes  for  different  parts  of 
Syria  and  Egypt,  and  supplying  the  Bedawin  and 
the  Nusairy  villagers  with  coarse  red-leather  boots 
and  shoes. 

Hums  early  became  the  seat  of  a  Christian 
Church,  and  in  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  its  bishop, 
Silvanus,  suffered  martyrdom.  In  636  A.  D.,  it  was 
captured  by  the  Saracens,  (or  "  Sherakiyeen," 
"  Easterns,"  as  the  Arab  Moslems  were  called,)  and 
although  occupied  for  a  time  by  the  Crusaders,  it 
has  continued  a  Moslem  city,  under  Mohammedan 
rule.  The  Greek  population  have  been  oppressed 
and  ground  to  the  very  dust  by  their  Moslem  neigh- 
bors and  rulers,  and  their  women  have  been  driven 


142 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


for  protection  into  a  seclusion  and  degradation  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  Moslem  hareems. 

The  Rev.  D.  M.  Wilson,  a  missionary  of  the  A. 
B.  C.  F.  M.,  took  up  his  residence  in  Hums  in  Octo- 
ber, 1855,  and  remained  until  obliged  to  leave  by 
the  civil  war  which  raged  in  the  country  in  1860. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aiken  went  to  Hums  in  April,  1856, 
but  Mrs.  Aiken  died  June  20,  after  having  given 
promise  of  rare  usefulness  among  the  women  of 
Syria. 

After  Mr.  Wilson  left  Hums,  a  faithful  native 
helper,  Sulleba  Jerwan,  was  sent  to  preach  in  Hums. 
His  wife,  Luciya  Shekkoor,  had  been  trained  in  the 
family  of  Rev.  W.  Bird  in  Deir  el  Komr,  and  was  a 
devoted  and  excellent  laborer  on  behalf  of  the  wo- 
men of  Hums.  In  October,  1862,  one  of  the  more 
enlightened  men  among  the  Greeks  was  taken  ill, 
and  sent  for  Pastor  Sulleba  to  come  and  make  him 
a  religious  visit.  He  went,  and  found  quite  a  com- 
pany of  relatives  and  friends  present!  The  sick  man 
asked  him  to  read  from  the  Word  of  God,  and 
among  the  passages  selected,  was  that  containing 
the  Ten  Commandments.  While  he  was  reading 
the  Second  Commandment,  the  wife  of  the  sick  man 
exclaimed,  "  Is  that  the  Word  of  God?  If  it  is,  read 
it  again."  He  did  so,  when  she  arose  and  tore  down 
a  wooden  painted  picture  of  a  saint,  which  had  been 
hung  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  declaring  that  hence- 
forth there  should  be  no  idol  worship  in  that  house. 
Then  taking  a  knife,  she  scraped  the  paint  from  the 
picture,  and  took  it  to  the  kitchen  to  serve  as  the 


HUMS.  143 

cover  to  a  saucepan  !  This  was  done  with  the  appro- 
bation of  all  present.  The  case  was  the  more  re- 
markable, as  it  was  one  of  the  first  cases  in  Syria  in 
which  a  woman  has  taken  such  a  decided  stand 
against  picture-worship  and  saint-worship,  in  advance 
of  the  rest  of  the  family. 

In  the  year  1863,  before  the  ordination  of  Pastor 
Sulleba,  there  being  no  Protestant  properly  qualified 
to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony  in  Hums,  I  went 
to  that  city  to  marry  two  of  the  Protestant  young 
men.  It  was  the  first  time  a  Protestant  marriage 
had  ever  taken  place  in  Hums,  and  great  interest 
was  felt  in  the  ceremony.  It  is  the  custom  among 
the  other  sects  to  pronounce  the  bride  and  groom 
husband  and  wife,  neither  giving  an  opportunity  to 
spectators  to  object,  nor  asking  the  girl  if  she  is  wil- 
ling to  marry  the  man.  The  girl  is  oftentimes  not 
consulted,  but  simply  told  she  is  to  marry  such  a 
man.  If  it  pleases  her,  well  and  good.  If  not, 
there  is  no  remedy.  The  Greek  Church  gives  no 
liberty  in  this  respect,  although  the  priest  takes  it 
for  granted  that  the  friends  have  satisfied  both  bride 
and  groom  with  regard  to  the  desirableness  of  the 
match.  If  they  are  not  satisfied,  the  form  of  the 
ceremony  gives  neither  of  them  the  right  of  re- 
fusal. 

The  two  young  men,  Ibrahim  and  Yunis,  called 
upon  me  soon  after  my  arrival,  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  marriage.  I  read  them  the  form  of  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  and  they  expressed  their  approval, 
but  said  it  would  be  necessary  to  give  the  brides 


144  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

very  careful  instructions  as  to  how  and  when  to  an- 
swer, lest  they  say  yes  when  they  should  say  no,  and 
no  when  they  wished  to  say  yes  f  I  asked  them  to 
accompany  me  to  the  houses  of  the  girls,  that  I  might 
give  them  the  necessary  directions.  They  at  once 
protested  that  this  would  not  be  allowed.  They  had 
never  called  at  the  brides'  houses  when  the  girls  were 
present,  and  it  would  be  a  grievous  breach  of  deco- 
rum for  them  to  go  even  with  me.  So  certain  of  the 
male  relatives  of  the  girls  were  sent  for  to  accom- 
pany me,  and  I  went  to  their  houses.  On  entering 
the  house  of  the  first  one,  it  was  only  after  long  and 
elaborate  argument  and  diplomatic  management, 
that  we  could  induce  the  bride  to  come  in  from  the 
other  room  and  meet  me.  At  length  she  came,  with 
her  face  partially  veiled,  and  attended  by  several 
married  women,  her  relatives. 

They  soon  began  to  ply  me  with  questions.  "  Do 
you  have  the  communion  before  the  ceremony?'' 
"  No."  "  Do  you  use  the  "  Ikleel,''  or  crown,  in  the 
service  ?  "  "  No,  we  sometimes  use  the  ring."  Said 
one,  "  I  hear  that  you  ask  the  girl  if  she  is  willing  to 
take  this  man  to  be  her  husband."  "  Certainly  we 
do."  "  Well,  if  that  rule  had  been  followed  in  my 
day,  I  know  of  one  woman  who  would  have  said  no  ; 
but  they  do  not  give  us  Greek  women  the  chance." 

I  then  explained  to  them  that  the  bride  must 
stand  beside  the  bridegroom,  and  when  I  asked  her 
if  she  knew  of  any  lawful  reason  why  she  should  not 
marry  this  man,  Ibrahim,  she  should  say  No, — and 
when  I  asked  her  if  she  took  him  to  be  her  lawful 


Women  Grinding  at  a  Mill. 


HUMS.  145 

and  wedded  husband,  she  must  answer  Yes.  Some 
of  the  women  were  under  great  apprehension  that 
she  might  answer  No  in  the  wrong  place ;  so  I  re- 
peated it  over  and  over  again  until  the  girl  was  sure 
she  should  not  make  a  mistake.  The  woman  above 
alluded  to  now  said,  "  I  would  have  said  No  in  the 
right  place,  if  I  had  been  allowed  to  do  it !  "  I  then 
went  to  the  house  of  the  other  bride  and  gave  her 
similar  instructions.  The  surprise  of  the  women  who 
came  in  from  the  neighborhood,  that  the  girl  should 
have  the  right  to  say  yes  or  no,  was  most  amusing 
and  suggestive.  That  one  thing  seemed  to  give 
them  new  ideas  of  the  dignity  and  honor  of  woman 
under  the  Gospel.  Marriage  in  the  East  is  so  gener- 
ally a  matter  of  bargain  and  sale,  or  of  parental  con- 
venience and  profit,  or  of  absolute  compulsion,  that 
young  women  have  little  idea  of  exercising  their  own 
taste  or  judgment  in  the  choice  of  a  husband. 

This  was  new  doctrine  for  the  city  of  Heliogaba- 
lus,  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  the  news  soon  spread 
through  the  town  that  the  next  evening  a  marriage 
ceremony  was  to  be  performed  by  the  Protestant 
minister,  in  which  the  bride  was  to  have  the' privilege 
of  refusing  the  man  if  she  wished.  And,  what  was 
even  more  outrageous  to  Hums  ideas  of  propriety, 
it  was  rumored  that  the  brides  were  to  walk  home 
from  the  Church  in  company  with  their  husbands  ! 
This  was  too  much,  and  certain  of  the  young  Hums- 
ites,  who  feared  the  effect  of  conferring  such  un- 
heard-of rights  and  privileges  on  women,  leagued  to- 
gether to  mob  the  brides  and  grooms  if  such  a  course 
7 


I46  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

were  attempted.  We  heard  of  the  threat  and  made 
ample  preparations  to  protect  Protestant  women's 
rights. 

The  evening  came,  and  with  it  such  a  crowd  of 
men,  women  and  children,  as  had  never  assembled  in 
that  house  before.  The  houses  of  Hums  are  built 
around  a  square  area  into  which  all  the  rooms  open, 
and  the  open  space  or  court  of  the  mission-house 
was  very  large.  Before  the  brides  arrived,  the  entire 
court,  the  church  and  the  schoolroom,  were  packed 
with  a  noisy  and  almost  riotous  throng.  Men,  wom- 
en and  children  were  laughing  and  talking,  shouting 
and  screaming  to  one  another,  and  discussing  the  ex- 
traordinary innovation  on  Hums  customs  about  to 
be  enacted.  Soon  the  brides  arrived,  accompanied 
by  a  veiled  and  sheeted  crowd  of  women,  all  carrying 
candles  and  singing  as  they  entered  the  house. 
We  took  them  into  the  study  of  the  native  preacher 
Sulleba,  and  after  a  reasonable  delay,  we  forced  a 
way  for  them  through  the  crowd  into  the  large 
square  room,  then  used  as  a  church.  My  brother 
and  myself  finally  succeeded  in  placing  them  in  a 
proper  position  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  then  we 
waited  until  Asaad  and  Michaiel  and  Yusef  and  Na- 
sif  had  enforced  a  tolerable  stillness.  It  should  be 
said  that  silence  and  good  order  are  almost  unknown 
in  the  Oriental  churches.  Men  are  walking  about 
and  talking,  and  even  laughing,  while  the  priests  are 
"  performing"  the  service,  and  they  are  much  im- 
pressed by  the  quiet  and  decorum  of  Protestant  wor- 
ship. 


HUMS.  !47 

The  two  brides  were  closely  veiled  so  that  I 
could  not  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  Ibra- 
him was  slender  and  tall,  at  least  six  feet  three,  and 
Yunis  was  short  and  corpulent.  So  likewise,  one  of 
the  brides  was  very  tall,  and  the  other  even  shorter 
than  Yunis.  As  we  could  not  see  the  brides'  faces, 
we  arranged  them  according  to  symmetry  and  ap- 
parent propriety,  placing  the  tall  bride  by  the  tall 
groom,  and  the  two  short  ones  together.  After  the 
introductory  prayer,  I  proceeded  to  deliver  a  some- 
what full  and  practical  address  on  the  nature  of 
marriage,  and  the  duties  and  relations  of  husband 
and  wife,  as  is  our  custom  in  Syria,  not  only  for  the 
instruction  of  the  newly  married  pair,  but  for  the 
good  of  the  community.  No  Methodist  exhorter 
ever  evoked  more  hearty  responses,  than  did  this  ad- 
dress, from  the  Hums  populace.  "  That  is  true." 
"  That  is  news  in  this  city."  "  Praise  to  God."  MasJi- 
iillah  !  A  woman  exclaimed  on  hearing  of  the  duties 
of  husband  to  wife,  "  Praise  to  God,  women  are  some- 
thing after  all !  "  I  then  turned  to  the  two  pairs,  and 
commenced  asking  Ibrahim  the  usual  question,  "  Do 
you  "  etc.,  etc.,)  when  a  woman  screamed  out,  "  Stop, 
stop,  Khowadji,  you  have  got  the  wrong  bride  by 
that  man.  He  is  to  marry  the  short  girl ! "  Then 
followed  an  explosion  of  laughter,  and  during  the 
confusion  we  adjusted  the  matter  satisfactorily.  A 
Moslem  Effendi  who  was  present  remarked  after  lis- 
tening to  the  service  throughout,  "that  is  the  most 
sensible  way  of  getting  married  that  I  ever  heard 
of." 


I48  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

After  the  ceremony,  we  sent  the  newly  married 
pairs  to  the  study  to  await  the  dispersion  of  the  mul- 
titude, before  going  into  the  street.  But  human  cu- 
riosity was  too  great.  None  would  leave  until  they 
saw  the  extraordinary  sight  of  a  bride  and  groom 
walking  home  together.  So  we  prepared  our  lanterns 
and  huge  canes,  and  taking  several  of  the  native 
brethren,  my  brother  and  myself  walked  home  first 
with  Ibrahim  and  wife,  and  then  with  Yunis  and  his 
wife.  We  walked  on  either  side  of  them,  and  the 
riotous  rabble,  seeing  that  they  could  not  reach  the 
bride  and  groom,  without  first  demolishing  two  tall 
Khowadjis  with  heavy  canes,  contented  themselves 
with  coarse  jokes  and  contemptuous  laughter. 

This  was  nine  years  ago,  and  on  a  recent  visit  to 
Hums,  the  two  brides  and  their  husbands  met  me 
at  the  door  of  the  church  on  Sunday,  to  show  me 
their  children.  Since  that  time  numerous  Protest- 
ant weddings  have  taken  place  in  Hums,  and  a  new 
order  of  things  is  beginning  to  dawn  upon  that  peo- 
pie. 

The  present  native  pastor,  the  Rev.  Yusef  Bedr, 
was  installed  in  June,  1872.  His  wife  Leila,  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary,  and  has 
been  for  several  years  a  teacher.  Her  father  died 
in  January,  1871,  in  the  hospital  of  the  Beirut  Col- 
lege, and  her  widowed  mother,  Im  Mishrik,  has  gone 
to  labo.r  in  Hums  as  a  Bible  Woman.  When  her 
father  was  dying,  I  went  to  see  him."  Noticing  his 
emaciated  appearance,  I  said,  "  Are  you  very  ill, 
Abu  Mishrik  ?  "  "  No  my  friend,  /  am  not  ill.  My 


HUMS. 


149 


body  is  ill,  and  wasting  away  but  /am  well.  I  am 
happy.  I  cannot  describe  my  joy.  I  have  no  desire 
to  return  to  health  again.  If  you  would  fill  my  hands 
with  bags  of  gold,  and  send  me  back  to  Abeih  in 
perfect  health,  to  meet  my  family  again,  I  would 
not  accept  the  offer,  in  the  place  of  what  I  know  is 
before  me.  I  am  going  to  see  Christ !  I  see  Him 
now.  I  know  He  has  borne  my  sins,  and  I  have  noth- 
ing now  to  fear.  It  would  comfort  me  to  see  some 
of  my  friends  again,  and  especially  Mr.  Calhoun, 
whom  I  love  ;  but  what  are  my  friends  compared 
with  Christ,  whom  I  am  going  so  soon  to  see?" 
After  prayer,  I  bade  him  good  bye,  and  a  few  hours 
after,  he  passed  peacefully  away. 

The  teacher  of  the  Girls'  School  in  Hums,  is  Be- 
linda, also  a  former  pupil  of  the  Beirut  Seminary. 
Her  brother-in-law,  Ishoc,  is  the  faithful  colporteur, 
who  has  labored  so  earnestly  for  many  years  in  the 
work  of  the  Gospel  in  Syria.  His  grandfather  was  a 
highway  robber,  who  was  arrested  by  the  Pasha, 
after  having  committed  more  than  twenty  murders. 
When  led  out  to  the  gallows,  the  Pasha  offered  him 
office  as  district  governor,  if  he  would  turn  Moslem. 
The  old  murderer  refused,  saying  that  he  had  not 
much  religion,  but  he  would  not  give  up  the  Greek 
Church  !  So  he  was  hung,  and  the  Greeks  regarded 
him  as  a  martyr  to  the  faith !  Ishoc's  father  was  as 
'bad  as  the  grandfather,  and  trained  Ishoc  to  the  so- 
ciety of  dancing  girls  and  strolling  minstrels.  When 
Ishoc  became  a  Protestant,  the  father  took  down  his 
sword  to  cut  off  his  head,  but  his  mother  interceded 


ISO 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


and  saved  his  life.  Afterwards  his  father  one  day- 
asked  him  if  it  was  possible  that  a  murderer,  son  of 
a  murderer,  could  be  saved.  He  read  the  gospel  to 
him,  prayed  with  him,  and  at  length  the  wicked 
father  was  .melted  to  contrition  and  tears.  He  died 
a  true  Christian,  and  the  widowed  mother  is  now 
living  with  Ishoc  in  Beirut.  Belinda  has  a  good 
school,  and  the  wealthiest  families  of  the  Greeks 
have  placed  their  daughters  under  her  care. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MIRIAM  THE  ALEPPINE. 

'T^HE  city  of  Aleppo  was  occupied  as  a  Station  of 
the  Syria  Mission  for  many  years,  until  finally 
in  1855  it  was  left  to  the  Turkish-speaking  mission- 
aries of  the  Central  Turkey  Mission.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  fields  of  labor  in  Turkey,  but  has 
not  been  unfruitful  of  genuine  instances  of  saving 
faith  in  Christ.  Among  them  is  the  case  of  Miriam 
Nahass,  (or  Mary  Coppersmith,)  now  Miriam  Sark- 
ees  of  Beirut. 

From  a  letter  published  in  the  Youth's  Dayspring 
at  the  time,  I  have  gathered  the  following  facts : 

In  1853  and  1854  the  Missionaries  in  Aleppo, 
Messrs.  Ford  and  Eddy,  opened  a  small  private 
school  for  girls,  the  teacher  of  which  was  Miriam  Na- 
hass. When  the  Missionaries  first  came  to  Aleppo, 
her  father  professed  to  be  a  Protestant,  and  on  this 
account  suffered  not  a  little  persecution  from  the 
Greek  Catholic  priests.  At  times  he  was  on  the 
point  of  starvation,  as  the  people  were  forbidden  to 
buy  of  him  or  sell  to  him.  One  day  he  brought  his 
little  daughter  Miriam  to  the  missionaries,  and  asked 
them  to  take  her  and  instruct  her  in  all  that  is  good, 
which  they  gladly  undertook,  and  her  gentle  pleas- 
ant ways  soon  won  their  love. 


152  Tff£  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Her  mother  was  a  superstitious  woman,  who 
hated  the  missionaries,  and  could  not  bear  to  have 
her  daughter  stay  with  them.  She  used  for  a  long 
time  to  come  almost  daily  to  their  house  and  bitterly 
complain  against  them  and  against  her  husband  for' 
robbing  her  of  her  daughter.  She  would  rave  at 
times  in  the  wildest  passion,  and  sometimes  she 
would  weep  as  if  broken-hearted  ;  not  because  she 
loved  her  child  so  much,  but  because  she  did  not 
like  to  have  her  neighbors  say  to  her,  "  Ah !  You 
have  let  your  child  become  a  Protestant ! " 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  this  was  very  an- 
noying to  the  missionary  who  had  her  in  special 
charge,  and  so  it  was;  but  he  found  some  profit  in 
it.  He  was  just  then  learning  to  speak  the  language, 
and  this  woman  by  her  daily  talk,  taught  him  a 
kind  of  Arabic,  and  a  use  of  it,  not  to  be  obtained 
from  grammars  and  dictionaries.  He  traced  much 
of  his  ready  command  of  the  language  to  having 
been  compelled  to  listen  so  often  to  the  wearisome 
harangues  of  Miriam's  mother.  Sometimes  the 
father  would  be  overcome  by  the  mother's  entreat- 
ies and  would  take  away  the  girl,  but  after  awhile 
he  would  bring  her  back  again,  to  the  great  joy  of 
those  who  feared  they  had  lost  her  altogether.  This 
state  of  things  continued  two  or  three  years,  while 
Miriam's  mind  was  daily  improving  and  her  charac- 
ter unfolding,  and  hopes  were  often  entertained  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  was  carrying  on  a  work  of  grace  in 
her  soul. 

One  day  her  father  came  to  the  missionary,  and 


MIRIAM  THE  ALEPPINE.  ^3 

asked  him  to  loan  him  several  thousand  piastres  (a 
thousand  piastres  is  $40,)  with  which  he  might  set  up 
business.  This  was  of  course  refused,  when  he  went 
away  greatly  enraged.  He  soon  returned  and  took 
away  his  daughter,  saying  that  Protestantism  did  not 
pay  what  it  cost.  It  had  cost  him  the  loss  of  prop- 
erty and  reputation ;  it  had  cost  him  the  peace  of 
his  household  and  the  presence  of  his  little  girl, 
and  it  did  not  bring  in  to  him  in  return  even  the 
loan  of  a  few  piastres,  and  he  would  try  it  no  longer. 
Prayer  continued  to  be  offered  without  ceasing  for 
Miriam,  thus  taken  back  to  an  irreligious  home;  and 
though  the  missionaries  heard  of  her  return  and  her 
father's  return  to  the  corrupt  Greek  Catholic  Church, 
and  of  the  exultation  of  the  mother  over  the  attain- 
ment of  her  wishes,  yet  they  did  not  cease  to  hope 
that  God  would  one  day  bring  her  back  and  make 
her  a  lamb  of  His  fold. 

An  Arab  young  woman,  Melita,  trained  in  the 
family  of  Mrs.  Whiting  in  Beirut,  was  sent  to  Aleppo 
about  this  time  to  open  a  girls'  school  there.  The 
Greek  Catholic  priests  then  thought  to  establish  a 
similar  school  of  their  own  sect  to  prevent  their  chil- 
dren from  attending  that  of  the  Protestants.  They 
secured  Miriam  as  their  teacher.  As  she  went  from 
her  home  to  the  school  and  back  again,  she  used 
sometimes  to  run  into  the  missionary's  house  by 
stealth,  and  assure  him  that  her  heart  was  still  with 
him,  and  her  faith  unchanged.  The  school  contin- 
ued a  few  wreeks,  but  the  priests  having  failed  to 
p^ay  anything  towards  its  support,  her  father  would 
7* 


154 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


let  her  teach  no  more.  Perhaps  tyvo  years  passed 
thus,  with  but  little  being  seen  of  Miriam,  but  she 
was  not  forgotten  at  the  throne  of  grace. 

The  teacher  from  Beirut  having  returned  to  her 
home,  it  was  proposed  to  Miriam's  father  that  she 
should  teach  in  the  Protestant  school.  Quite  unex- 
pectedly he  consented,  with  the  understanding  that 
she  was  to  spend  every  evening  at  home.  At  first, 
little  was  said  to  her  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  soon 
she  sought  religious  conversation  herself,  and  brought 
questions  and  different  passages  of  Scripture  to  be 
explained.  After  about  a  month,  having  previously 
conversed  with  the  missionary  about  her  duty,  when 
her  father  came  for  her  at  night,  she  told  him  that 
she  did  not  want  to  go  home  with  him,  but  to  stay 
where  she  was.  She  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than 
her  parents.  They  had  made  her  act  the  part  of  a 
hypocrite  long  enough ;  to  pretend  to  be  a  Catholic 
when  she  was  a  Protestant  at  heart,  and  they  knew 
that  she  was.  Her  father  promised  that  everything 
should  be  according  to  her  wishes,  and  then  ^she  re- 
turned with  him. 

Two  or  three  days  passed  away  and  nothing  was 
seen  or  heard  of  Miriam.  A  servant  was  then  sent 
to  her  father's  house  to  inquire  if  she  was  sick,  and 
he  was  rudely  thrust  away  from  the  door.  The  mis- 
sionary felt  constrained  to  interfere,  that  Miriam 
might  at  least  have  the  opportunity  of  declaring 
openly  her  preference.  According  to  the  laws  of 
the  Turkish  government,  the  father  had  no  right  to 
keep  her  at  her  age,  against  her  will,  and  it  was  neces 


MIRIAM  THE  ALEPPINE.  ^5 

sary  that  she  have  an  opportunity  to  choose  with 
whom  she  wished  to  live.  The  matter  was  repre- 
sented to  the  American  Consul,  who  requested  the 
father  to  appear  before  him  with  his  daughter. 
When  the  officer  came  to  his  house,  he  found  that 
the  father  had  locked  the  door  and  gone  away  with 
the  key.  From  an  upper  window,  however,  Miriam 
saw  him  and  told  him  that  she  was  shut  up  there  a 
prisoner,  not  knowing  what  might  be  done  with  her, 
and  she  begged  for  assistance.  She  had  prepared  a 
little  note  for  the  missionary,  telling  of  her  attach- 
ment to  Christ's  cause,  and  closing  with  the  last  two 
verses  of  the  eighth  chapter  of  Romans,  "  For  I  am 
persuaded,  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height  nor  depth,  nor  any 
other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
The  janizary  proposed  to  her  to  try  if  she  could  not 
get  out  upon  the  roof  of  the  next  house,  and  de- 
scend through  it  to  the  street,  which  she  successfully 
accomplished,  and  was  soon  joyfully  on  her  way  to  a 
place  of  protection  in  the  Consulate. 

Miriam,  after  staying  three  days  at  the  Consul's 
house,  returned  to  that  of  the  missionary.  Her  pa- 
rents tried  every  means  to  induce  her  to  return. 
They  promised  and  threatened  and  wept,  but  though 
greatly  moved  at  times  in  her  feelings,  she  remained 
firm  to  her  purpose.  They  tried  to  induce  her  to  go 
home  for  a  single  night  only,  but  she  knew  them  too' 
well  to  trust  herself  in  their  hands.  Her  mother  had 


!^6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

artfully  arranged  to  meet  her  at  the  house  of  a  friend  ; 
but  her  brother  came,  a  little  before  the  time,  to 
warn  her  that  a  plan  was  laid  to  meet  her  at  this 
house  with  a  company  of  priests  who  were  all  ready 
to  marry  her  forcibly  to  a  man  whom  she  knew  noth- 
ing about,  as  is  often  done  in  this  country.  Miriam 
thus  gave  up  father  and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters, 
for  the  sake  of  Christ  and  his  gospel. 

In  the  year  1855  Mr.  Ford  removed  to  Beirut, 
and  Miriam  accompanied  him.  She  made  a  public 
profession  of  her  faith  in  Christ  in  1856,  and  was  mar- 
ried in  1858  to  Mr.  Ibrahim  Sarkees,  foreman  and 
principal  proof  reader  of  the  American  Mission  Press. 
Her  father  has  since  removed  to  Beirut,  and  all  of 
the  family  have  become  entirely  reconciled  to  her 
being  a  Protestant.  Her  brother  Habibs  is  a  fre- 
quent attendant  on  Divine  service,  and  regards 
himself  as  a  Protestant. 

Miriam  is  now  deeply  interested- in  Christian 
work,  and  the  weekly  meetings  of  the  Native 
Women's  Missionary  Society  are  held  at  her  house. 
The  Protestant  women  agree  either  to  attend  this 
Sewing  Society,  or  pay  a  piastre  a  week  in  case  of 
their  absence. 

I  close  this  chapter  with  the  mention  of  Werdeh, 
[Rose,]  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Arabic  poet  Nasif 
el  Yazijy,  who  aided  Dr.  Eli  Smith  in  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  into  Arabic.  -She  is  now  a  member  of 
the  Evangelical  Church  in  Beirut.  She  herself  has 
written  several  poems  of  rare  merit ;  one  an  elegy  up- 
on the  death  of  Dr.  Smith;  another  expressing  grate- 


Werdeh's  Arabic  Poem,  Lamenting  the  Death  of  Farah  Bistany. 


».  JL.  ^  5;  i    /  ^-J  f 


fyi\  ^a-oJ  3^j^      j 


j  j 


MIRIAM  THE  ALEPPINE.  157 

ful  thanks  to  Dr.  Van  Dyck  for  attending  her  sick 
brother.  Only  this  can  be  introduced  here,  a  poem' 
lamenting  the  death  of  Sarah  Huntington  Bistany, 
daughter  of  Raheel,  who  died  in  January,  1866. 
Sarah's  father  and  her  own  father,  Sheikh. Nasif,  had 
been  for  years  on  the  most  intimate  terms,  and  the 
daughters  were  like  sisters.  The  account  of  Sarah's 
death  will  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  volume. 

Oh  sad  separation  !     Have  you  left  among  mortals, 

An  eye  without  tears,  hot  and  burning  with  sorrow  ? 

Have  you  left  on  this  earth  a  heart  without  anguish, 

Or  a  soul  unharrowed  with  grief  and  emotion  ? 

Thou  hast  plucked  off  a  flower  from  our  beautiful  garden, 

Which  shall  shine  like  the  stars  in  the  gardens  celestial. 

Wo  is  me  !     I  have  lost  a  fair  branch  of  the  willow 

Broken  ruthlessly  off.     And  what  heart  is  not  broken  ? 

Thou  hast  gone,  but  from  me  thou  wilt  never  be  absent. 
Thy  person  will  live  to  my  sight  and  my  hearing. 

Tears  of  blood  will  be  shed  by  fair  maids  thy  companions, 

Thy  grave  will  be  watered  by  tears  thickly  falling. 

Thou  wert  the  fair  jewel  of  Syrian  maidens, 

Far  purer  and  fairer  than  pearls  of  the  ocean. 

Where  now  is  thy  knowledge  of  language  and  science? 

This  sad  separation  has  left  to  us  nothing. 

Ah,  wo  to  the  heart  of  fond  father  and  mother, 
No  sleep, — naught  but  anguish  and  watching  in  sorrow 
Thou  art  clad  in  white  robes  in  the  gardens  of  glory, 
We  are  clad  in  the  black  robe  of  sorrow  and  mourning 

Oh  grave,  yield  thy  honors  to  our  pure  lovely  -maiden, 

Who  now  to  thy  gloomy  abode  is  descending  ! 

Our  Sarah  departed,  with  no  word  of  farewell, 
Will  she  ever  return  with  a  fond  word  of  greeting  ? 

Oh  deep  sleep  of  death,  that  knows  no  awaking ! 

Oh  absence  that  knows  no  thought  of  returning  ! 

If  she  never  comes  back  to  us  here  in  our  sorrow, 
We  shall  go  to  her  soon.     'Twill  be  but  to-morrow  ! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MODERN   SYRIAN  VIEWS  WITH   REGARD   TO   FEMALE 
EDUCATION. 

TN  the  year  1847,  a  Literary  Society  was  formed  in 
Beirut,  through  the  influence  of  Drs.  Thomson, 
Eli  Smith,  Van  Dyck,  De  Forest  and  Mr.  Whiting, 
which  continued  in  operation  for  about  six  years,  and 
numbered  among  its  members  the  leading  men  of  all 
the  various  native  communities.  Important  papers 
were  read  on  various  scientific  and  social  subjects. 
The  missionaries  had  been  laboring  for  years  to  cre- 
ate an  enlightened  public  sentiment  on  the  subject 
of  female  education,  contending  against  social  preju- 
dices, profound  ignorance,  ecclesiastical  tyranny  and 
selfish  opposition,  and  at  length  the  fruit  of  their  la- 
bors began  to  appear.  In  the  following  articles  may 
be  seen  something  of  the  views  of  the  better  class  of 
Syrians.  The  first  was  read  before  the  Beirut  Liter- 
ary Society,  Dec.  14, 1849,  by  Mr.  Butrus  Bistany,  who, 
as  stated  above,  married  Raheel,  and  is  now  the  head 
of  a  flourishing  Academy  in  Beirut,  and  editor  of 
three  Arabic  journals.  I  have  translated  only  the 
salient  points  of  this  long  and  able  paper  : — 

We  have  already  spoken  of  woman  in  barba- 
rous lands.  The  Syrian  women,  although  better  off 
in  some  respects  than  the  women  of  barbarous  na- 


SYXfA.V  VIEWS  av  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


159 


tions,  are  still  in  the  deepest  need  of  education  and 
elevation,  since  they  stand  in  a  position  midway  be- 
tween the  barbarous  and  the  civilized.  How  few  of 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women  in  Syria  know 
how  to  read  !  How  few  are  the  schools  ever  estab- 
lished here  for  teaching  women  !  Any  one  who  de- 
nies the  degradation  and  ignorance  of  Syrian  wom- 
en, would  deny  the  existence  of  the  noonday  sun. 
Do  not  men  shun  even  an  allusion  to  women,  and  if 
obliged  to  speak  of  them,  do  they  not  accompany 
the  remark  with  "  a  jellak  Allah,"  a's  if  they  were 
speaking  of  a  brute  beast,  or  some  filthy  object  ? 
Are  they  not  treated  among  us  very  much  as  among 
the  barbarians  ?  To  what  do  they  pay  the  most  at- 
tention ?  Is  it  not  to  ornament  and  dress,  and  re- 
fining about  styles  of  tatooing  with  the  "  henna"  and 
"  kohl  ?  "  What  do  they  know  about  the  training 
of  children,  domestic  economy  and  neatness  of  per- 
son, and  the  care  of  the  sick  ?  How  many  abomi- 
nable superstitions  do  they  follow,  although  forbidden 
by  their  own  religions  ?  Are  not  the  journals  and 
diaries  of  travellers  full  of  descriptions  of  the  state 
of  our  women  ?  Does  not  every  one,  familiar  with 
the  state  of  society  and  the  family  among  us,  know 
all  these  things,  and  mourn  over  them,  and  demand 
a  reform  ?  Would  that  I  might  awaken  among  the 
women  the  desire  to  learn,  that  thus  they  might  be 
worthy  of  higher  honor  and  esteem  ! 

"  Woman  should  be  instructed  in  religion.  This 
is  one  of  her  highest  rights  and  privileges  and  her 
bounden  duty. 


l6o  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

"  She  should  be  taught  in  her  own  vernacular 
tongue,  so  as  to  be  able  to  express  herself  correctly, 
and  use  pure  language.  Woman  should  learn  to 
write. 

"  She  should  be  taught  to  read.  How  is  it  possi- 
ble for  woman  to  remember  all  her  duties,  religious 
and  secular,  through  mere  oral  instruction  ?  But  a 
written  book,  is  a  teacher  always  with  her,  and  in 
every  place  and  circumstance.  It  addresses  her 
without  a  voice,  rebukes  her  without  fear  or  shame, 
answers  without  sullenness  and  complaint.  She  con- 
sults it  when  she  wishes,  without  anxiety  and  em- 
barrassment, and  banishes  it  if  not  faithful  pr  satis- 
factory, or  even  burns  it  without  crime  ! 

"  Why  forbid  woman  the  use  of  the  only  means 
she  can  have  of  sending  her  views  and  feelings 
where  the  voice  cannot  reach  ?  Now  when  a  wo- 
man wishes  to  write  a  letter,  she  must  go,  closely 
veiled  to  th'e  street,  and  hire  a  professional  scribe  to 
write  for  her,  a  letter  which  she  cannot  read,  and 
which  may  utterly  misrepresent  her! 

"  Woman  should  also  have  instruction  in  the  train- 
ing of  children.  The  right  training  of  children  is 
not  a  natural  instinct.  It  is  an  art,  and  a  lost  art 
among  us.  It  must  be  learned  from  the  experience 
and  observation  of  those  who  have  lived  before  us ; 
and  where  do  we  now  find  the  woma-n  who  knows 
how  to  give  proper  care  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
her  children?" 

Mr.  Bistany  then  speaks'  of  the  importance  of 
teaching  woman  domestic  economy,  sewing,  cook- 


S  YRTAN  VIE  WS  ON  FEMALE  ED  UCA  TION.     \  6 1 

ing,  and  the  care  of  the  sick,  as  well  as  geography, 
arithmetic,  and  history,  giving  as  reasons  for  the 
foregoing  remarks,  that  the  education  of  woman  will 
benefit  herself,  her  husband,  her  children  and  her 
country. 

"  How  can  she  be  an  intelligent  wife,  a  kind  com- 
panion, a  wise  counsellor,  a  faithful  spouse,  aiding 
her  husband,  lightening  his  sufferings,  training  his 
children,  and  caring  for  his  home,  without  educa- 
tion? Without  education,  her  taste  is  corrupt. 
She  will  seek  only  outward,  ornament,  and  dress, 
and  painting,  as  if  unsatisfied  with  her  Creator's 
work ;  becoming  a  mere  doll  to  be  gazed  at,  or  a 
trap  to  catch  the  men.  She  will  believe  in  countless 
superstitions,  such  as  the  Evil  Eye,  the  howling  of 
dogs,  the  crying  of  foxes,  etc.,  which  are  too  well 
known  to  need  mention  here.  He  who  would 
examine  this  subject,  should  consult  that  huge 
unwritten  book,  that  famous  volume  called  "  Ketab 
en  Nissa,"  the  "  Book  of  the  Women,"  a  work  which 
has  no  existence  among  civilized  women  ;  or  ask  the 
old  wives  who  have  read  it,  and  taught  it  in  '  their 
schools  of  superstition. 

"  Let  him  who  would  know  the  evils  of  neglect- 
ing to  educate  woman,  look  at  the  ignorant,  un-» 
taught  woman  in  her  language  and  dress,  her  con- 
duct at  home  and  abroad ;  her  notions,  thoughts, 
and  caprices  on  religion  and  the  world  ;  her  morals, 
inclinations  and  tastes  ;  her  house,  her  husband, 'her 
children  and  acquaintances,  when  she  rejoices  or 
mourns,  when  sick  or  well ;  and  he  will  agree  with 


l$2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

us  that  an  uneducated  woman  is  a  great  evil  in  the 
world,  not  to  say  the  greatest  evil  possible  to  be  im- 
agined. 

"  In  the  reformation  of  a  nation,  then,  the  first 
step  in  the  ladder  is  the  education  of  the  women 
from  their  childhood.  And  those  who  neglect  the 
women  and  girls,  and  expect  the  elevation  of  the 
people  by  the  mere  training  of  men  and  boys,  are 
like  one  walking  with  one  foot  on  the  earth,  and  the 
other  in  the  clouds !  They  fail  in  accomplishing 
their  purpose  and  are»barely  able,  by  the  utmost 
energy,  to  repair  that  which  woman  has  corrupted 
and  destroyed.  They  build  a  wall,  and  woman  tears 
down  a  castle.  They  elevate  boys  one  degree,  and 
women  depress  them  many  degrees. 

"  Perhaps  I  have  now  said  enough  on  a  subject 
never  before  \vritten  upon  by  any  of  our  ancestors 
of  the  sons  of  the  Arabs.  My  object  has  been  to 
prove  the  importance  of  the  education  of  woman, 
based  on  the  maxim,  that,  'she  who  rocks  the  cradle 
with  her  right  hand,  moves  the  world  with  her 
arm.'" 

The  next  article  I  have  translated  from  Mr.  Bis- 
tany's  Semi-monthly  Magazine,  called  the  "  Jenan," 
for  July,  1870.  It  was  written  by  an  Arab  woman 
of  Aleppo,  the  Sitt  Mariana  Merrash.  She  writes 
with  great  power  and  eloquence  in  the  Arabic ;  and 
her  brother,  Francis  Effendi,  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  writers  of  modern  Syria.  The  paper  of 
the  Sitt  Mariana  is  long,  and  the  introduction  is  most 
ornate  and  flowery.  She  writes  on  the  condition  of 


SYRIAN'  VIEWS  Oh'  FEMALE  EDUCA  TJON.     163 

woman  among  the  Arabs,  and  refutes  an  ancient 
Arab  slander  against  women  that  they  are  cowardly 
and  avaricious,  because  they  will  not  fight,  and  care- 
fully hoard  the  household  stores.  She  then  pro- 
ceeds : — 

"  Wo  to  us  Syrian  women,  if  we  do  not  kuow 
enough  to  distinguish  and  seek  after  those  qualities 
which  will  elevate  and  refine  our  minds,  and  giv<* 
breadth  to  our  thoughts,  and  enable  us  to  take  a 
proper  position  in  society !  We  ought  to  attract 
sensible  persons  to  us  by  the  charm  of  our  cultiva- 
tion and  refinement,  not  by  the  mere  phantom  of 
beauty  and  personal  ornament.  Into  what  gulfs  of 
stupidity  have  we  plunged !  Do  we  not  know  that 
the  reign  of  beauty  is  short,  and  not  enough  of  it- 
self to  be  worthy  of  regard  ?  And  even  supposing 
that  it  were  enough  of  itself,  in  the  public  estima- 
tion, to  make  us  attractive  and  desirable,  do  we  not 
know  assuredly  that  after  beauty  has  faded,  we 
should  fall  at  once  into  a  panic  of  anxiety  and  grief, 
since  none  would  then  look  at  us  save  with  the  eye 
of  contempt  and  ridicule,  to  say  nothing  of  the  vain 
attempts  at  producing  artificial  beauty  which  cer- 
tain foolish  women  make,  as  if  they  were  deaf  to  the 
insults  and  abuse  heaped  upon  them?  Shall  we 
settle  down  in  indolence,  and  never  once  think  of 
what  is  our  highest  advantage  and  our  chiefest 
good  ?  Shall  we  forever  run  after  gay  attire  and 
ornament?  Let  us  arise  and  run  the  race  of  mental 
culture  and  literary  adornment,  and  not  listen  for  a 
moment  to  those  who  insult  us  by  denying  the 


164  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

appropriateness  of  learning  to  women,  and  the  capa- 
city of  women  for  learning! 

"  Were  we  not  made  of  the  same  clay  as  men  ? 
Even  if  we  are  of  weaker  texture,  we  have  the  same 
susceptibility  which  they  have  to  receive  impressions 
from  what  is  taught  to  us.  If  it  is  good,  we  receive 
good  as  readily  as  they;  and  if  evil,  then  evil.  Of 
what  use  is  a  crown  of  gold  on  the  brow  of  igno- 
rance, and  what  loveliness  is  there  in  a  jewelled  star 
on  the  neck  of  coarseness  and  brutality,  or  in  a  dia- 
mond necklace  over  a  heart  of  stupidity  and  igno- 
rance? The  great  poet  Mutanebbi  has  given  us  an 
apothegm  of  great  power  on  this  very  subject.  He 
says: 

•  Fukr  el  jehul  bela  okl  ila  adab, 
Fukr  el  hamar  bela  ras  ila  resen/ 

'  A  senseless  fool's  need  of  instruction  is  like  a  headless  donkey's 
need  of  a  halter.' 

"  Let  ns  then  gird  ourselves  with  wisdom  and 
understanding,  and  robe  ourselves  .with  true  polite- 
ness and  meekness,  and  be  crowned  with  the  flowers 
of  the  'jenan'  (gardens)  of  knowledge  (a  pun  on  the 
name  of  the  magazine)  now  opened  to  us.  Let  us 
pluck  the  fruits  of  wisdom,  lifting  up  our  heads  in 
gratulation  and  true  pride,  and  remain  no  longer  in 
that  cowardice  and  avarice  which  were  imputed  to 
the  women  of  the  Arabs  before  us!" 

The  next  article  I  shall  translate,  is  a  paper  on  the 
Training  of  Children  in  the  East,  by  an  Arab  woman 
of  Alexandria,  Egypt,  the  Sitt  Wustina  Mesirra, 


SYRIAN  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


I65 


wife  of  Selim  Effendi  el  Hamawy.  It  was  printed 
in  the  "  Jenan"  for  Jan.,  1871.  After  a  long  and 
eloquent  poetical  introduction,  this  lady  says: — 

"Let  us  put  off  the  robes  of  sloth  and  inert- 
ness, and  put  on  the  dress  of  zeal  and  earnestness.  We 
belong  to  the  nineteeth  century,  which  exceeds  all 
the  ages  of  mankind  in  light  and  knowledge.  Why 
shall  we  not  show  to  men  the  need  of  giving  us  the 
highest  education,  that  we  may  at  the  least  con- 
tribute to  their  happiness  and  advantage,  and  rightly 
train  our  children  and  babes,  not  to  say  that  we  may 
pluck  the  fruits  of  science,  and  the  best  knowledge 
for  ourselves  ?  Let  them  say  to  us,  you  are  weak  and 
lacking  in  knowledge.  I  reply,  by  perseverance  and 
patience,  we  shall  attain  our  object. 

"  Inasmuch  as  every  one  who  reaches  mature 
years,  must  pass  by  the  roatl  of  childhood  and  youth, 
everything  pertaining  to  the  period  of  childhood 
becomes  interesting  and  important,  and  I  beg  per- 
mission to  say  a  word  on  the  training  of  children. 

"  When  it  pleased  God  to  give  us  our  first  child,  I 
determined  to  train  it  according  to  the  old  approved 
modes  which  I  had  learned  from  my  family  relatives 
and  fellow-countrywomen.  So  I  took  the  baby  boy 
soon  after  his  birth,  and  put  him  in  a  narrow 
cradle  provided  with  a  tin  tube  running  down  through 
a  perforation  in  the  little  bed,  binding  and  tying  him 
down,  and  wrapping  and  girding  him  about  from  his 
shoulders  to  his  heels,  so  that  he  was  stiff  and  un- 
movable,  excepting  his  head,  which  rolled  and  wrig- 
gled about  from  right  to  left,  with  the  rocking  of  the 


!66  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

cradle,  this  rocking  being  deemed  necessary  for  the 
purpose  of  inducing  sleep  and  silence  in  the  child. 
My  lord  and  husband  protested  against  this  treat- 
ment, proving  to  me  the  evil  effects  of  this  wrapping 
and  rocking,  by  many  and  weighty  reasons,  and  even 
said  that  it  would  injure  the  little  ones  for  life,  even 
if  they  survived  the  outrageous  abuse  they  were  sub- 
jected to.  I  was  astonished,  and  said,  how  can  this  be  ? 
We  were  all  trained  and  treated  in  this  manner,  and 
yet  lived  and  grew  up  in  the  best  possible  style. 
All  our  countrymen  have  been  brought  up  in  this  way, 
and  none  of  them  that  I  know  of  have  ever  been 
injured  in  the  way  you  suggest.  He  gave  it  up,  and 
allowed  me  to  go  on  in  the  old  way,  until  something 
happened  which  suddenly  checked  the  babe  in  his 
progress  in  health  and  happiness.  He  began  to 
throw  up  his  milk  after  nuvsing,  and  to  grow  ill,  giving 
signs  of  brain  disease,  and  then  my  lord  said,  you 
must  now  give  up  these  customs  and  take  my  coun- 
sel. So,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  I  accepted  his 
advice  and  gave  up  the  cradle.  I  unrolled  the  bind- 
ings and  wrappings  and  gave  up  myself  to  putting 
things  in  due  order.  I  clothed  my  child  with  gar- 
ments adapted  to  his  age  and  circumstances,  and  to 
the  time  and  place,  and  regulated  the  times  of  his 
eating  and  play  by  day,  and  kept  him  awake  as  much 
as  might  be,  so  that  he  and  his  parents  could  sleep 
at  night.  I  soon  saw  a  wonderful  change  in  his 
health  and  vigor,  though  I  experienced  no  little 
trouble  from  my  efforts  to  wean  him  from  the  rocking 
of  the  cradle  to  which  he  was  accustomed.  My  favor- 


SYRIAN  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION.     167 

able  experience  in  this  matter,  led  me  to  use  my  in- 
fluence to  induce  the  daughters  of  my  race,  and  my 
own  family  relatives,  to  give  up  practices  which  are 
alike  profitless,  laborious  and  injurious  to  health. 
My  husband  also  aided  me  in  getting  books  on  the 
training  of  children,  and  I  studied  the  true  system  of 
training,  learning  much  of  what  is  profitable  to  the 
mothers  and  fathers  of  my  country  in  preserving  the 
health  of  their  children  in  mind  and  body.  The 
binding  and  wrapping  of  babes  in  the  cradle  prevents 
their  free  and  natural  movements,  and  the  natural 
growth  of  the  body,  and  injures  their  health." 

The  next  paper  is  from  the  pen  of  Khalil  Effen- 
di,  editor  of  the  Turkish  official  journal  of  Beirut. 
It  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  "  Hadikat  el  Akh- 
bar "  of  January,  1867.  It  represents  the  leading 
views  of  a  large  class  of  the  more  enlightened  Syr-" 
ians  with  regard  to  education,  and  by  way  of  preface 
to  the  Effendi's  remarks,  I  will  make  a  brief  histori- 
cal statement. 

The  Arab  race  were  in  ancient  times  celebrated 
for  their  schools  of  learning,  and  although  the  arts 
and  sciences  taught  in  the  great  University  under  the 
Khalifs  of  Baghdad,  were  chiefly  drawn  from  Greece, 
yet  in  poetry,  logic  and  law  the  old  Arab  writers 
long  held  a  proud  preeminence.  But  since  the 
foundation^  of  the  present  Ottoman  Empire,  the 
Arabs  have  been  under  a  foreign  yoke,  subject  to 
every  form  of  oppression  and  wrong,  and  for  genera- 
tions hardly  a  poet  worth  the  name  has  appeared 
excepting  Sheikh  Nasif  el  Yazijy.  Schools  have 


1 68  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

been  discouraged,  and  learning,  which  migrated  with 
the  Arabs  into  Spain,  has  never  returned  to  its 
Eastern  home.  There  are  in  every  Moslem  town 
and  city  common  schools,  for  every  Moslem  boy 
must  be  taught  to  read  the  Koran ;  but  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Egyptian  school  of  the  Jamea  el  Az- 
har  in  Cairo,  there  had  not  been  up  to  1867  for 
years  even  a  high  school  under  native  auspices,  in 
the  Arabic-speaking  world.  But  what  the  Turks 
have  discouraged  and  the  Arab  Moslems  have  failed 
to  do,  is  now  being  done  among  the  nominal  Chris- 
tian sects,  and  chiefly  by  foreign  educators.  During 
the  past  thirty  years  a  great  work  in  educating  the 
Arab  race  in  Syria  has  been  done  by  the  American 
Missionaries.  Their  Seminary  in  Abeih,  on  Mount 
Lebanon,  has  trained  multitudes  of  young  men,  who 
are  now  scattered  all  over  Syria  and  the  East,  and 
are  making  their  influence  felt.  Other  schools  have 
sprung  up,  and  the  result  is,  that  the  young  men 
and  women  of  Syria  are  now  talking  about  the 
"  Asur  el  Jedid,"  or  "  New  Age  of  Syria,"  by  which 
they  mean  an  age  of  education  and  light  and  ad- 
vancement. The  Arabic  journal,  above  referred  to, 
is  owned  by  the  Turkish  government,  or  rather  sub- 
sidized by  it,  and  its  editor  is  a  talented  young 
Greek  of  considerable  poetic  ability.  It  is  not  often 
that  he  ventures  to  speak  out  boldly  on  such  a 
theme  as  education,  but  the  pressure  from  the  peo- 
ple upon  the  Governor-General  was  so  great  at  the 
time,  that  he  gave  permission  to  the  editor  to  utter 
his  mind.  I  translate  what  he  wrote,  quite  literally. 


Fartha,   or  opening  Chapter  of  the  Koran. 


i  U.  ^ 

' 


TAe  same  Anglicized  by  Rodwell 

1  Bismillahi'  rahmani'  rraheem 

2  El-hamdoo  lillahi  rabi'lalameen 

3  Arrahmani'  raheem 

4  Maliki  yowmi-d-deen 

5  Eyaka  naboodoo  waeyaka  nestaeen 

6  Ihdina'  ssirat  almostakeem 

7  Sirat  ale7,eena  anamta  aleihim,   gheiri-'Imoghdoobi  alcihim 
wala'  daleen.     Ameen, 

Burton's  rhyming  translation  of  same 

1  In  the  Name  of  Allah,  the  Merciful  the  Compassionate  1 

2  Praise  be  to  Allah  who  the  three  worlds  made, 

3  The  Merciful  the  Compassionate. 

4  The  King  of  the  day  of  Fate. 

5  Thee  alone  do  we  worship  and  of  thee  alone  do  we  ask  aid 

6  Guide  us  to  the  path  that  is  straight  — 

7  The  path  of  those  to  whom  thy  love  is  great, 
Not  those  on  whom  is  hate, 

Nor  they  that  deviate.     Amen. 


.<?  YR1A N  VIE  W$>  0 Ar  FEMALE  ED  UCA  TION.     \  69 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  strength  of 
every  people  and  the  source  of  their  happiness,  rest 
upon  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  them. 
Science  has  been  in  every  age  the  foundation  of 
wealth  and  national  progress,  and  since  science  and 
the  arts  are  the  forerunners  of  popular  civilization, 
and  the  good  of  the  masses  and  their  elevation  in 
the  scale  of  intellectual  and  physical  growth,  there- 
fore primary  education  is  the  necessary  prepara- 
tion for  all  scientific  progress.  And  in  view  of  this, 
the  providence  of  our  most  exalted  government 
has  been  turned-  to  the  accomplishment  of  what  has 
been  done  successfully  in  other  lands,  in  the  multi- 
plication of  schools  and  colleges.  And  none  can  be 
ignorant  of  the  great  progress  of  science  and  educa- 
tion, under  His  August  Imperial  Excellency  the 
Sultan,  in  Syria,  where  schools  and  printing  presses 
have  multiplied,  especially  in  the  city  of  Beirut  and 
its  vicinity.  For  in  Beirut  and  Mount  Lebanon, 
there  are  nearly  two  thousand  male  pupils,  large 
and  small,  in  Boarding  Schools,  learning  the  Arabic 
branches  and  foreign  languages,  and  especially  the 
French  language,  which  is  more  widely  spread  than 
any  other.  The  most  noted  of  these  schools  are  the 
French  Lazarist  School  at  Am  Tura  in  Lebanon,  the 
American  Seminary  in  Abeih,  the  Jesuit  School  at 
Ghuzir,  and  the  Greek  School  at  Suk  el  Ghurb,  the 
most  of  the  pupils  being  from  the  cities  of  Syria. 
Then  there  are  in  Beirut  the  Greek  School,  the 
school  of  the  Greek  Catholic  Patriarch,  the  Native 
National  College  of  Mr.  Biztrus  el  Bistany,  and  there 
8 


iyo  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

are  also  nearly  a  thousand  girls  in  the  French  Laza- 
rist  School,  the  Prussian  Protestant  Deaconesses, 
the  American  Female  Seminary  and  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son's British  Syrian  School,  and  other  female  schools. 
And  here  we  must  mention  that  all  of  these  schools, 
(excepting  the  Druze  Seminary,)  are  in  the 
hands  of  Christiaits,  and  the  Mohammedans  of  Bei- 
rut have  not  a  single  school  other  than  a  common 
school,  although  in  Damascus  and  Tripoli  they  have 
High  Schools  which  are  most  successful,  and  many 
of  their  children  in  Beirut,  are  learning  in  Christian 
schools,  a  fact  which  we  take  as  a  proof  of  their  anx- 
iety to  attain  useful  knowledge,  although  they  have 
not  as  yet  done  aught  to  found  schools  of  their  own. 
And  though  the  placing  of  their  children  in  Chris- 
tian schools  is  a  proof  of  the  love  and  fellowship  be- 
tween these  two  sects  in  this  glorious  Imperial  Age, 
we  cannot  but  say  that  it  would  be  far  more  befit- 
ting to  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  Mussulmen  to 
open  schools  for  their  own  children  as  the  other 
sects  are  doing.  And  lately  the  Imperial  Governor 
of  Syria  has  been  urging  them  to  this  step,  and  they 
are  now  planning  the  opening  of  such  a  school, 
which  will  be  a  means  of  great  benefit  and  glory  to 
Islam." 

The  editor  then  states  that  the  great  want  of 
Syria  is  a  school  where  a  high  practical  education 
can  be  given,  and  says : — 

"  We  now  publish  the  glad  tidings  to  the  sons  of 
Syria  that  such  a  College  has  just  been  opened  in 
Syria,  in  the  city  of  Beirut,  by  the  liberality  of  good 


SYRIAN  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


171 


men  in  America  and  England,  and  called  the  "  Syr- 
ia Protestant  College."  It  is  to  accommodate  event- 
ually one  thousand  pupils,  will  have  a  large  library 
and  scientific  apparatus,  including  a  telescope  for 
viewing  the  stars,  besides  cabinets  of  Natural  His- 
tory, Botany,  Geology  and  Mineralogy.  It  will 
teach  all  Science  and  Art,  Law  and  Medicine,  and 
we  doubt  not  will  meet  the  great  want  of  our  native 
land." 

Five  years  have  passed  since  the  above  was  writ- 
ten. Since  that  time  the  number  of  pupils  in  the 
various  schools  in  Beirut  has  trebled,  and  new  edu- 
cational edifices  of  stately  proportions  are  being 
built  or  are  already  finished,  in  every  part  of  the 
city.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  the  finest  structures 
in  Beirut  are  those  built  for  educational  purposes. 
The  Latins  have  the  Sisters  of  Charity  building  of 
immense  proportions,  the  Jesuit  establishment,  the 
Maronite  schools,  and  the  French  Sisters  of  Naza- 
reth Seminary,  which  is  to  be  one  of  the  most  com- 
manding edifices  of  the  East.  The  Greeks  have 
their  large  High  School,  and  the  Papal-Greeks,  or 
Greek-Catholics  their  lofty  College.  The  Moslems 
have  built  with  funds  drawn  from  the  treasury  of  the 
municipality,  a  magnificent  building  for  their  Reshi- 
diyeh,  while  the  Protestants  have  the  imposing 
edifices  occupied  by  the  American  Female  Semi- 
nary, the  British  Syrian  Schools,  the  Prussian 
Deaconesses  Institute,  and  most  extensive  and 
impressive  of  all,  the  new  edifices  of  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  at  Ras  Beirut. 


1/2 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


As  another  illustration  of  public  sentiment  in 
Syria 'with  regard  to  evangelical  work,  I  will  trans- 
late another  paragraph  from  this  official  news- 
paper : 

"  We  have  been  writing  of  the  progress  of  the 
tress  in  Syria,  and  of  Arabic  literature  in  Europe, 
but  we  have  another  fact  to  mention  which  will  no 
doubt  fill  the  sons  of  our  country  with  astonishment. 
You  know  well  the  efforts  which  were  put  forth 
some  time  since  in  the  printing  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  in  various  editions  in  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage, in  the  Press  of  the  American  Mission  in 
Beirut.  This  work  is  under  the  direction  of  the 
distinguished  scholar  Dr.  Van  Dyck,  who  labored 
assiduously  in  the  completion  of  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages, 
which  was  commenced  by  the  compassionated  of 
God,  Dr.  Eli  Smith.  They  had  printed  from  time 
to  time  large  editions  of  this  Bible  with  great  labor 
and  expense,  and  sold  them  out,  and  then  were 
obliged  to  set  up  the  types  again  for  a  new  edition. 
But  Dr.  Van  Dyck  thought  it  best,  in  order  to  find 
relief  from  the  vast  expenditure  of  time  and  money 
necessary  to  reset  the  types,  to  prepare  for  every 
page  of  the  Bible  a  plate  of  copper,  on  whose  face 
the  letters  should  be  engraved.  He  therefore  pro- 
ceeded to  New  York,  and  undertook  in  co-operation, 
with  certain  men  skilled  in  the  electrotyping  art,  to 
make  plates  exactly  corresponding  to  the  pages  of 
the  Holy  Book,  and  he  has  sent  to  us  a  specimen 
page  taken  from  the  first  plate  of  the  vowelled  Tes- 


SY&IAN  VIE  WS  ON  FEMALE  ED  UCA  TION.     173 

tament,  and  on  comparison  with  the  page  printed 
here,  we  find  it  an  exact  copy  of  the  Beirut  edition 
which  is  printed  in  the  same  type  with  our  journal. 
We  regard  it  as  far  clearer  and  better  than  the  sheets 
printed  from  movable  types,  and  we  congratulate 
Dr.  Van  Dyck,  and  wish  him  all  success  in  this 
enterprise." 

Such  statements  as  these  derive  their  value  from 
the  fact  that  they  appear  in  the  official  paper  of  a 
Mohammedan  government,  and  are  a  testimony  to 
the  value  of  the  Word  of  God. 

The  next  article  is  a  literal  translation  of  an  ad- 
dress delivered  in  June?  1867,  at  the  Annual  Ex- 
amination of  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary.  This 
Seminary  was  the  first  school  in  Syria  for  girls,  which 
was  established  on  the  paying  principle,  and  in  the 
year  1867  its  income  from  Syrian  girls  who  paid 
their  own  board  and  tuition  was  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  in  gold.  It  commenced  with  six  pupils, 
and  now  has  fifty  boarders.  A  crowded  assembly 
attended  the  examination  in  the  year  above  men- 
tioned, and  at  its  close,  several  native  gentlemen 
made  addresses  in  Arabic.  The  most  remarkable 
address  was  made  by  a  Greek  Priest,  Ghubrin  Jebara, 
the  Archimandrite  and  agent  of  the  Patriarch. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  in  the  days  of  Bird, 
Goodell  and  Fisk,  the  Greek  clergy  were  among  the 
most  bitter  enemies  of  the  missionaries,  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  address  indicates  a  great  change  in 
Syria.  Turning  to  the  great  congregation  of  three 
or  four  hundred  people  who  were  assembled  in  the 


174  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

American  Chapel,  Greeks,  Maronites,  Mohammedans, 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  he  said  : 

"  You  know  my  friends,  into  what  a  sad  state  our 
land  and  people  had  fallen,  morally,  socially  and 
intellectually.  We  had  no  schools,  no  books,  no 
means  of  instruction,  when  God  in  His  Providence 
awakened  the  zeal  of  good  men  far  across  two  seas 
in  distant  America,  of  which  many  of  us  had  never 
heard,  to  leave  home  and  friends  and  country  to 
spend  their  lives  among  us,  yes  even  among  such  as 
I  am.  In  the  name  of  my  countrymen  in  Syria,  I 
would  this  day  thank  these  men,  and  those  who  sent 
them.  They  have  given  us  the  Arabic  Bible,  numer 
ous  good  books,  founded  schools  and  seminaries, 
and  trained  our  children  and  youth.  But  for  the 
American  Missionaries  the  Word  of  God  would 
have  well  nigh  died  out  of  the  Arabic  language.  But 
now  through  the  labors  of  the  lamented  Eli  Smith 
;md  Dr.  Van  Dyck,  they  have  given  us  a  translation 
so  pure,  so  exact,  so  clear  and  so  classical  as  to  be  ac- 
ceptable to  all  classes  and  all  sects.  But  for  their 
labors,  education  would  still  be  where  it  was  centuries 
ago,  and  our  children  would  still  have  continued  to 
grow  up  like  wild  beasts.  Is  there  any  one  among  us 
so  bigoted,  so  ungrateful,  as  not  to  appreciate  these 
benevolent  labors ;  so  blind  as  not  to  see  their  fruits  ? 
True,  other  European  Missionaries  have  come  here 
from  France  and  Italy,  and  we  will  not  deny  their 
good  intentions.  But  what  have  they  brought  us  ? 
And  what  have  they  taught  ?  A  little  French.  They  tell 
us  how  far  Lyons  is  from  Paris,  and  where  Napoleon 


SYRIAN  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


175 


first  lived,  and  then  they  forbid  the  Word  of  God, 
and  scatter  broadcast  the  writings  of  the  accursed  in- 
fidel Voltaire.  But  these  Americans  have  come 
thousands  of  miles,  from  a  land  than  which  there  is  no 
happier  on  earth,  to  dwell  among  such  as  we  are,  yes, 
I  repeat  it,  such  as  I  am,  to  translate  God's  word,  to 
give  us  schools  and  good  books,  and  a  goodly  exam- 
ple, and  I  thank  them  for  it.  I  thank  them  and  all 
who  are  laboring  for  us.  I  would  thank  Mr.  Mikhaiel 
Araman,  the  Principal  of  this  Female  Seminary,  who 
is  a  son  of  our  land,  and  Miss  Rufka  Gregory,  the 
Preceptress,  who  is  a  daughter  of  our  own  people,  for 
the  wonderful  progress  we  have  witnessed  during  these 
three  days  among  the  daughters  of  our  own  city  and 
country,  in  the  best,  kind  of  knowledge.  Allah  grant 
prosperity  to  this  Seminary,  and  all  its  teachers  and 
pupils,  peace  and  happiness  to  all  here  present  to-day 
and  long  life  to  our  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz." 

As  my  object  in  giving  these  extracts  from  Arab 
writers  and  orators  of  the  pre'sent  day,  is  to  give 
some  idea  of  the  change  going  on  in  Syrian  public 
sentiment  with  regard  to  education,  the  dignity  of 
woman,  and  the  abolition  of  superstitious  social 
usages,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  translate  from 
the  official  journal  of  Baud  Pasha,  late  governor  of 
Mt.  Lebanon,  an  article  on  the  customs  of  the  Leb- 
anon population.  This  paper  was  styled  "  Le  Li- 
ban,"  and  printed  both  in  Arabic  and  French  in  July, 
1867.  It  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  civilizing  and 
Christianizing  influences  which  are  at  work  in  Syria. 

"  In    Mount    Lebanon   there  exist  certain  cus- 


1 76  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

toms,  which  had  their  origin  in  kindly  feeling  and 
sympathy,  but  have  now  passed  beyond  the  limits 
of  propriety,  and  lost  their  original  meaning.  For 
example,  when  one  falls  sick,  his  relatives  and  friends 
at  once  begin  to  pour  in  upon  him.  The  whole 
population  of  the  town  will  come  crowding  into  the 
house,  each  one  speaking  to  the  sick  a  word  of  com- 
fort and  encouragement,  and  then  sitting  down  in 
the  sick  room.  The  poor  invalid  must  respond  to 
all  these  salutations,  and  even  be  expected  to  rise 
in  bed  and  bow  to  his  loving  friends.  Then  the 
whole  company  must  speak  a  word  to  the  family,  to 
the  wife  and  children,  assuring  them  that  the  disease 
is  but  slight,  and  the  sick  man  will  speedily  recover. 
Then  they  crowd  into  the  sick  room  (and  such  a 
crowd  it  is !)  and  the  family  and  servants  are  kept 
running  to  supply  them  with  cigars  and  narghilehs, 
by  means  of  which  they  fill  the  room  with  a  dense  and 
suffocating  smoke.  Meantime,  they  talk  all  at  once 
and  in  a  loud  voice,  and  the  air  soon  becomes  im- 
pure and  suffocating,  and  all  these  things  as  a  matter 
of  course  injure  the  sick  man,  and  he  becomes  worse. 
Then  the  childish  doctors  of  the  town  are  summoned, 
and  in  they  come  with  grave  faces,  and  a  great  show 
of  wisdom,  and  each  one  begins  to  recount  the 
names  of  all  the  medicines  he  has  heard  of,  and 
describes  their  effects  in  working  miraculous  cures. 
Then  they  enter  into  ignorant  disputes  on  learned 
subjects,  and  talk  of  the  art  of  medicine  of  which 
they  know  nothing  save  what  they  have  learned  by 
hearsay.  One  will  insist  that  this  medicine  is  the 


SYRIAN'  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


177 


best,  because  his  father  used  it  with  great  benefit 
just  before  he  died,  and  another  will  urge  the  claims 
of  another  medicine,  of  a  directly  opposite  character, 
and  opinions  will  clash,  and  all  in  the  presence  of  the 
sick  man,  who  thus  becomes  agitated  and  alarmed. 
He  takes  first  one  medicine  and  then  its  opposite, 
and  then  he  summons  other  doctors  and  consults  his 
relatives.  Then  all  the  old  women  of  the  neighbor- 
hood take  him  in  hand  and  set  at  naught  all  that  the 
doctors  have  advised,  give  him  medicines  of  whose 
properties  they  are  wholly  ignorant,  and  thus  they 
hasten  the  final  departure  of  their  friend  on  his  long 
last  journey.  And  if  he  should  die,  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  the  town  assembles  at  once  at  the  house, 
and  the  relatives,  friends,  and  people  from  other 
villages  come  thronging  in.  They  fill  the  house  with 
their  screams  and  wails  of  mourning.  They  recount 
the  virtues  of  the  departed  with  groa»s  and  shrieks, 
and  lamentations  in  measured  stanzas.  This  all  re- 
sembles the  customs  of  the  old  Greeks  and  Romans 
who  hired  male  and  female  mourners  to  do  their 
weeping  for  them.  After  this,  they  proceed  at  once 
to  bear  the  corpse  to  the  grave,  without  one  thought 
as  to  proving  whether  there  be  yet  life  remaining  or 
not,  not  leaving  it  even  twelve  hours,  and  never 
twenty-four  hours.  It  is  well  known  that  this  cus- 
tom is  most  brutal  and  perilous,  for  they  may  sup- 
pose a  living  man  to  be  dead,  and  bury  him  alive,  as 
has,  no  doubt,  often  been  done.  Immediately  after 
the  burial,  the  crowd  return  to  the  house  of  the 
deceased,  where  a  sumptuous  table  awaits  them,  and 
8* 


178  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARAB*. 

all  the  relatives,  friends,  and  strangers  eat  their  fill. 
After  eight  days,  the  wailing,  assembling,  crowding, 
and  eating  are  repeated,  for  the  consolation  of  the 
distracted  relatives.  And  these  crowds  and  turbu- 
lent proceedings  occur,  not  simply  at  Syrian  funerals, 
but  also  at  marriages  and  births,  in  case  the  child 
born  is  a  boy,  for  the  Syrians  are  fond  of  exhibiting 
their  joy  and  sorrow.  But  it  should  be  remembered, 
that  just  as  in  civilized  lands,  all  these  demonstra- 
tions of  joy  and  sorrow  are  tempered  by  moderation 
and  wisdom,  and  subdued  by  silent  acquiescence  in 
the  Divine  will,  so  in  uncivilized  lands,  they  are  the 
occasion  for  giving  the  loose  rein  to  passion  and  tu- 
mult and  violent  emotion.  How  much  in  conform- 
ity with  true  faith  in  God,  and  religious  principle,  is 
the  quiet,  well-ordered  and  moderate  course  of  pro- 
cedure among  civilized  nations ! 

"  So  in  former  times,  the  man  was  everywhere 
the  absolute  tyrant  of  the  family.  The  wife  was 
the  slave,  never  to  be  seen  by  others.  And  if,  in 
conversation,  it  became  necessary  to  mention  her 
name,  it  would  be  by  saying  this  was  done  by  my 
wife  '  ajellak  Allah.'  But  now,  there  is  a  change,  and 
woman  is  no  longer  so  generally  regarded  as  worthy 
of  contempt  and  abuse,  and  the  progress  being  made 
in  the  emancipation  and  elevation  of  woman,  is  one 
of  the  noblest  and  best  proofs  of  the  real  progress  of 
Lebanon  in  the  paths  of  morality  and  civilization.3' 

This  is  the  language  of  the  official  paper  of  the 
Lebanon  government.  Yet  how  difficult  to  root  out 
superstitious  and  injurious  customs  by  official  utter- 


SYRIAN  VIEWS  ON  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


179 


ances !  At  the  very  time  that  article  was  written, 
these  customs  continued  in  full  force.  A  woman  in 
Abeih,  whose  husband  died  in  1866,  refused  to  allow 
her  house  or  her  clothes  to  be  washed  for  more  than 
a  whole  year  afterward,  just  as  though  untidiness 
and  personal  uncleanliness  would  honor  her  deceased 
husband  ! 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

BEDAWIN   ARABS. 

''pHERE  is  one  class  of  the  Arab  race,  of  which 
little  or  nothing  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
pages,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is  little  to  be 
said  of  missionary  work  or  progress  among  them. 
We  refer  to  the  Bedawin  Arabs.  The  true  sons  of 
Ishmael.  boasting  of  their  descent  from  him,  living  a 
wild,  free  and  independent  life,  rough,  untutored  and 
warlike,  plundering,  robbing  and  murdering  one  anoth- 
er as  a  business  ;  roaming  over  the  vast  plains  which 
extend  from  Aleppo  to  Baghdad,  and  from  Bagh- 
dad to  Central  Arabia,  and  bordering  the  outskirts 
of  the  more  settled  parts  of  Syria  and  Palestine  ;  ig- 
norant of  reading  and  writing,  and  yet  transacting  ex- 
tensive business  in  wool  and  live-stock  with  the  bor- 
der towns  and  cities;  nominally  Mohammedans,  and 
yet  disobeying  every  precept  of  Moslem  faith  and 
practice ;  subjects  of  the  Ottoman  Sultan,  and  yet 
living  in  perpetual  rebellion  or  coaxed  by  heavy 
bribes  into  nominal  submission ;  suffering  untold 
hardships  from  their  life  of  constant  exposure  to  win- 
ter storms  and  summer  heats ;  without  proper  food, 
clothing  or  shelter,  and  utterly  destitute  of  medical 
aid  and  relief,  and  yet  despising  the  refinements  of 


BED  A  WIN  ARABS.  \  g  I 

civilized  life,  and  regarding  with  contempt  the  man 
who  will  sleep  under  a  roof;  they  constitute  a  most 
ancient,  attractive  class  of  men,  interesting  to  every 
lover  of  his  race,  and  especially  to  the  Missionary  of 
the  Cross. 

European  missionaries  can  do  little  among  them. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  rough,  nomadic,  unsettled 
and  perilous  life  they  lead,  any  European  would  find 
himself  so  much  an  object  of  curiosity  and  suspicion 
among  them,  and  the  peculiar  Bedawin  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  Arabic  so  different  from  the  correct  pro- 
nunciation, that  he  would  be  constantly  embar- 
rassed. Native  missionaries,  on  the  other  hand,  can 
go  among  them  freely,  and  if  provided  with  a  supply 
of  vaccine  virus  and  simple  medicines,  can  have  the 
most  unrestrained  access  to  them.  During  the  last 
ten  years,  several  native  colporteurs  have  been  sent 
among  the  Bedawin,  and  lately  the  Native  Mission- 
ary Society  in  Beirut  has  sent  out  one  of  its  teachers 
as  a  missionary  to  the  Arabs.  There  is  little  use  in 
taking  books  among  them,  as  very  few  can  make  use 
of  them.  Mr.  Arthington  of  Leeds,  England,  has 
been  making  earnest  efforts  to  induce  the  Bedawin  to 
send  their  children  to  schools  in  the  towns,  or  allow 
schools  to  be  opened  among  their  own  camps.  We 
have  tried  every  means  to  induce  their  leading 
Sheikhs  to  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  Beirut 
for  instruction,  but  the  Arabs  all  dread  sending  their 
children  to  any  point  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Turks,  lest  they  be  suddenly  seized  by  the  Turks  as 
hostages  for  the  good  behavior  of  their  parents.  The 


lS2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

latter  course,  /.  e.,  sending  teachers  to  live  among 
them,  to  migrate  with  them  and  teach  their  children 
as  it  were  "  on  the  wing,"  seems  to  be  the  one  most 
practicable,  as  soon  as  teachers  can  be  trained.  Un- 
til the  Turkish  government  shall  compel  the  Beda- 
win  to  settle  down  in  villages  and  till  the  soil,  there 
can  be  little  done  in  the  way  of  instructing  them. 
And  when  that  step  is  taken,  it  is  quite  doubtful 
whether  the  Moslem  government  will  not  send  its 
Khoteebs  or  religious  teachers,  and  compel  them  all 
to  embrace  the  religion  of  Islam.  If  that  should  be 
done,  Christian  teachers  will  have  but  little  oppor- 
tunity of  opening  schools  among  them. 

One  of  the  leading  tribes  of  the  Bedawin  is  the 
Anazy,  who  are  more  numerous,  powerful  and  wealthy 
than  any  other  Kobileh  of  the  Arabs.  Their  princi- 
pal Sheikh  on  the  Damascus  border  is  Mohammed 
ed  Dukhy,  the  warlike  and  successful  leader  of  ten 
thousand  Arab  horsemen,  of  the  Weled  Ali.  He  is 
now  an  officer  of  the  Turkish  government,  with  a 
salary  of  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year,  employed  to 
protect  the  great  Haj  or  Pilgrim  Caravan,  which  goes 
annually  from  Damascus  to  Mecca.  He  furnishes 
camels  for  the  Haj,  and  a  powerful  escort  of  horse- 
men, and  is  under  bonds  to  keep  the  Arabs  quiet. 

In  Feburary,  1871,  he  came  to  Beirut  on  business, 
and  was  the  guest  of  a  Maronite  merchant,  who 
brought  him  at  our  invitation  to  visit  the  Female 
Seminary,  the  College  and  the  Printing  Press.  After 
looking  through  the  Seminary,  examining  the  various 
departments,  and  inquiring  into  the  course  of  study, 


BED  A  WIN  ARABS.  ^3 

he  turned  to  the  pupils  and  said,  "  Our  Bedawin 
girls  would  learn  as  much  in  six  months  as  you  learn 
in  two  years."  I  told  him  we  should  like  to  see  the 
experiment  tried,  and  that  if  he  would  send  on  a  doz- 
en Bedawin  girls,  we  would  see  that  they  had  every 
opportunity  for  improvement.  He  said,  "Al- 
lah only  knows  the  future.  Who  knows  but  it 
may  yet  come  to  pass  ?  "  The  Sheikh  himself  can 
neither  read  nor  write,  but  his  wife,  the  Sitt  Harba,  or 
Lady  Spear,  who  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Hamath, 
can  read  and  write  well,  and  she  is  said  to  be  the  only 
Bedawiyeh  woman  who  can  write  a  letter.  With 
this  in  view  we  prepared  an  elegant  copy  of  the  Arab- 
ic Bible,  enclosed  in  a  waterproof  case  made  by  the 
girls  of  the  Seminary,  and  presented  it  to  him  at  the 
Press.  He  expressed  great  interest  in  it,  and  asked 
what  the  book  contained.  We  'explained  the  con- 
tents, and  he  remarked,  "  I  will  have  the  Sitt  Harba 
read  to  me  of  Ibrahim,  Khalil  Allah,  (the  Friend  of 
God),  and  Ismaeel,  the  father  of  the  Arabs,  and  Ne- 
by  (prophet)  Moosa,  and  Soleiman  the  king,  and 
Aieesa,  (Jesus,)  the  son  of  Mary."  The  electrotype 
apparatus  deeply  interested  him,  but  when  Mr.  Hal- 
lock  showed  him  the  steam  cylinder  press,  rolling 
off  the  sheets  with  so  great  rapidity  and  exactness, 
he  stood  back  and  remarked  in  the  most  deliberate 
manner,  "  the  man  who  made  that  press  can  conquer 
anything  but  death  !  "  It  seemed  some  satisfaction 
to  him  that  in  the  matter  of  death  the  Bedawin  was 
on  a  level  with  the  European. 

From  the  Press,  the  Sheikh  went  to  the  Church, 


1 84       THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  after  gazing  around  on  the  pure  white  walls,  re- 
marked, "  There  is  the  Book,  but  I  see  no  pictures 
nor  images.  You  worship  only  God  here ! "  He 
was  anxious  to  see  the  Tower  Clock,  and  although  he 
had  lost  one  arm,  and  the  other  was  nearly  paralyzed 
by  a  musket  shot  in  a  recent  fight  in  the  desert,  he 
insisted  on  climbing  up  the  long  ladders  to  see  the 
clock  whose  striking  he  had  heard  at  the  other  end 
of  the  city,  and  he  gazed  long  and  admiringly  at  this 
beautiful  piece  of  mechanism.  On  leaving  us,  he  re- 
newedly  thanked  us  for  The  Book,  and  the  next  day 
he  left  by  diligence  coach  for  Damascus. 

In  the  summer  we  sent,  at  Mr.  Arthington's  ex- 
pense, a  young  man  from  the  Beirut  Medical  Col- 
lege, named  Ali,  as  missionary  to  itinerate  among 
the  Bedawin,  with  special  instructions  to  persuade 
the  Arabs  if  possible  to  send  their  children  to  school. 
He  remained  a  month  or  two  among  them,  by  day 
and  by  night,  sleeping  by  night  outside  the  tents 
with  his  horse's  halter  tied  to  his  arms  to  prevent  its 
being  stolen,  and  spending  the  evenings  reading  to 
the  assembled  crowd  from  the  New  Testament.  He 
was  present  as  a  spectator  at  a  fight,  between  Mo- 
hammed's men  and  the  Ruella  Arabs  east  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  in  which  the  Ruella  were  defeated, 
but  Mohammed's  son  Faur  was  wounded,  and  Ali  at- 
tended him.  The  Sitt  Harba  told  Ali  that  a  papist 
named  Shwiry,  in  Damascus,  had  taken  the  Arabic 
Bible  from  them  !  So  Ali  gave  them  another.  This 
Bible-hating  spirit  of  the  Papacy  is  the  same  the 
world  over.  How  contemptible  the  spirit  of  a  man 


BED  A  WIN  ARABS.  185 

professing  the  name  of  Christian,  and  yet  willing  to 
rob  the  only  woman  among  the  Bedawin  who  can 
read,  of  the  word  of  everlasting  life !  The  whole 
family  of  the  Sheikh  were  interested  in  reading  an 
illustrated  book  for  children  of  folio  size,  styled 
<l  Lilies  of  the  Field,"  which  we  printed  in  Beirut 
last  year.  When  -Ali  set  out  on  this  journey,  I  gave 
him  a  letter  to  the  Sheikh,  reminding  him  of  his  visit 
to  Beirut,  and  urging  again  upon  him  the  sending 
of  his  children  to  school.  The  Sheikh  sent  me  the 
following  reply,  written  by  his  wife,  the  Sitt  Harba, 
and  sealed  with  his  own  signet  ring.  I  value  the 
letter  highly  as  being  written  by  the  only  Bedawin 
woman  able  to  write  : 

To  his  excellency  the  most  honored  and  esteemed,  our  revered 
Khowadja  Henry  Jessup,  may  his  continuance  be  prolonged  I 
Amen. 

After  offering  you  the  pearls  of  salutation,  and  the  ornaments  of 
pure  odoriferous  greeting,  we  would  beg  to  inform  you  that  your  epis- 
tle reached  us  in  the  hand  of  Ali  Effendi,  and  we  perused  it  rejoic- 
ing in  the  information  it  contained  about  your  health  and  prosperity. 
You  remind  us  of  the  importance  of  sending  our  sons  and  daughters 
to  be  educated  in  your  schools.  Ali  Effendi  has  urged  us  very  strong- 
ly to  this  course ;  an  I  1  as  spent  several  weeks  with  us  among  the 
Arabs.  He  has  read  to  the  children  from  The  Book,  and  tried  to  in- 
terest them  in  learning  to  read.  He  has  also  gone  from  tent  to  tent 
among  our  Bedawin,  talking  with  them  and  urging  upon  them  this 
great  subject.  He  constantly  read  to  them  that  which  engaged  their 
attention,  and  we  aided  him  in  urging  it  upon  them.  Inshullah 
(God  grant)  that  there  may  soon  be  a  school  among  the  Arabs  them- 
selves. We  Bedawin  do  not  understand  the  language  nor  the  ways 
of  Europeans,  and  we  should  like  to  have  one  like  Ali  Effendi,  who 
knows  our  way  of  talking  and  living,  come  to  teach  us  and  our  chil- 
dren. We  would  also  inform  you  that  the  book  with  pictures,  which 


1 86  THE  IFOMEtf  OF  THE  ARABS. 

yoa  sent  to  the  SktH:ub^  has  reached  herr  and  she  has  read  it  with 
great  pleasure,  and  asks  of  God  to  increase  TOOT  good.  She  sends 
salams  to  JOB  and  to  the  Sat,  and  all  your  family. 

And  may  you  lire  forever !    Salam. 

MOHAMMED    DUKHY. 
99  Jemady  Akhar) 
uSgoftheHegiiaf 

"  Postscript.— Tnere  has  been  a  battle  hetween  ms  and  the  RneDa 
tribe,  and  the  Rncllas  ate  a  defeat.    All  Eflendi  was  present  and  will 


At  the  date  of  this  writing,  Ali  has  been  again  to 
Mohammed's  camp,  taking  books  and  medicines, 
and  has  done  fus  utmost  to  prepare  the  way  for 
opening  schools  among  the  Bedawin  in  their  own 
camps.  Ali  has  brought  another  letter  from  Sitt 
Harba,  in  which  she  gives  her  views  with  regard  to 
the  education  of  the  Bedawin.  I  sent  several  writ- 
ten questions  to  her  in  Arabic,  to  which  she  cheer- 
fully gave  replies.  The  following  is  the  substance 
of  her  answers : 

I.  The  Bedawin  Arabs  ought  to  learn  to  read 
and  write,  in  order  to  learn  religion,  to  increase  in 
understanding,  and  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
Koran.     They  profess  to  be  Moslems,  but  in  reality 
have  no  religion. 

II.  The  reason  why  so  few  of  the  Bedawin  know 
how  to  read,  is  because  it  is  out  of  their  line  of  busi- 
ness.    They  prefer  fighting,  plundering,  and  feeding 
flocks  and  herds.     Reading  and  books  are  strange 
and  unknown  to  them. 

III.  If  they  wished  to  learn  to  read,  the  true 
time  and  place  would  be  in  the  winter,  when  they 


BED  A  WIN  ARABS.  I  g/ 

migrate  to  the  East  in  the  Jowf,  where  they  are 
quiet  and  uninterrupted  by  government  tax-gatherers. 

IV.  I  learned  to  read  in  the  vicinity  of  Hums. 
My  father  brought  for  my  instruction  a  Khoteeb  or 
Moslem  teacher,  who  taught  me  reading.     His  name 
was   Sheikh   Abdullah.     The    Sheikh    Mohammed 
taught  me  writing. 

V.  The  Bedawin  esteem  a  boy  better  than  a  girl, 
because  the  boy  may  rise  to  honor,  but  the  girl  has 
nothing  to  expect  from  her  husband,  and  his  parents 
and  relatives,  but  cursing  and  abuse. 

VI.  A  man  may  many  four  wives.     If  one  of 
them   ceases  bearing  children,  and  she  be  of  Jus 
family,  he  makes  a  covenant  of  fraternity  with  her, 
and   he  supports  her  in  his  own   camp,  but  she   is 
regarded   simply  as  a  sister.     If  she  be  of  another 
family,  he  sends  her  home,  and  pays  her  what  her 
friends  demand. 

VII.  The  girls  and  women  have  no  more  religion 
than  the  boys  and  men.     They  never  pray  nor  fast, 
nor  make   the   pilgrimage  to  Mecca.     But  the  old 
women  repeat  certain  prayers,  and  visit  the  ziyaras, 
mazars,  and  welys,  and  other  holy  places. 

VIII.  If  teachers  would  come  among  us,  who 
can  live  as  we  do,  and  dwell  in  our  camps,  and  travel 
with  us  to  the  desert,  they  could  teach  the  great 
part  of  our  children  to  read,  especially  if  they  under- 
stood the  art  of  medicine. 

Ali  spent  several  weeks  among  them,  sleeping  in 
the  camp,  and  attending  upon  their  sick.  The  camp 
was  on  the  mountains  east  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 


£88  THE   WOMEN  OF    THE  ARABS. 

Fevers  prevailed  through  the  entire  district  from 
Tiberias  to  Damascus,  and  Ali  devoted  himself  faith- 
fully to  the  care  of  the  sick.  The  Sheikh  himself 
was  ill  with  fever  and  ague,  as  were  several  members 
of  his  family.  One  day  Ali  prepared  an  effervescing 
draught  for  him,  and  when  the  acid  and  the  alkali 
united,  and  the  mixture  effervesced,  the  Bedawin 
seated  in  the  great  tent  screamed  and  ran  from  the 
tent  as  if  the  Ruellas  were  down  upon  them  !  What, 
said  they,  is  this  ?  He  pours  water  into  water,  and 
out  come  fire  and  smoke  !  The  Sheikh  himself  was 
afraid  to  drink  it,  so  Ali  took  it  himself,  and  finally, 
after  explaining  the  principle  of  the  chemical  process, 
he  induced  both  the  Sheikh  and  the  Sit  Harba  to 
drink  the  draught.  On  leaving  the  encampment, 
the  Sheikh  gave  Ali  a  guard,  and  three  Turkish 
pounds  (about  $14,)  to  pay  for  his  medicines  and 
medical  services,  saying,  that  as  his  Bedawin  were 
growing  poor  since  they  were  forbidden  to  make 
raids  on  other  tribes,  they  could  not  pay  for  his  ser- 
vices, and  he  would  pay  for  all.  He  offered  to  give 
him  a  goat  skin  bottle  of  semin  (Arab  butter)  and 
several  sheep,  but  Ali  was  unable  to  carry  either,  and 
declined  the  offer.  Ali  brought  a  specimen  of  Beda- 
win bread.  It  is  black,  coarse,  and  mixed  with 
ashes  and  sand.  The  Bedawin  pound  their  wheat, 
and  knead  the  coarse  gritty  flour  without  sifting, 
and  bake  it  on  the  heated  earthen  ovens. 

The  Bedawin  swarm  with  vermin.  Their  gar- 
ments, their  persons,-their  tents  and  their  mats  are 
•literally  alive  with  £he  third  plague  of  Egypt,  lice ! 


BED  A  WIN  ARABS. 


:89 


AH  soon  found  himself  completely  overrun  with  them, 
and  was  almost  driven  wild.  The  Sitt  Harba  urged 
him  to  try  the  Bedawin  remedy  for  cleansing  his  head. 
On  inquiring  what  it  was,  he  declared  he  would  rather 
have  the  disease  than  the  remedy  !  After  his  return 
to  his  village  in  Lebanon,  he  spent  several  days  in  ab- 
lutions and  purifications  before  venturing  to  bring  me 
his  report.  The  Sitt  Harba  gave  him  a  collection  of 
the  nursery  rhymes  which  she  and  the  Bedawin  women 
sing  to  their  little  brown  babies,  and  some  of  them 
will  be  found  in  the  "  Children's  Chapter  "  of  this 
volume.  The  Sheikh  Mohammed,  who  can  neither 
read  nor  write,  repeated  to  Ali  the  following  Kosideh 
or  Song,  which  he  composed  in  Arabic  poetry,  after 
his  victory  over  Feisal,  of  the  Ruella  tribe,  in  1866. 
The  Ruellas  had  previously  driven  Mohammed's  tribe 
from  one  of  the  finest  pasture  regions  in  Howian,  and 
Ed  Dukhy  regained  it  after  a  desperate  struggle. 

Oh  fair  and  beautiful  plain,  oh  rich  green  Bedawin  pasture, 
We  had  left  you,  too  often  stained,  with  the  blood  of  violent  battle  ; 
Ah,  dark  disastrous  day,  when  brother  abandoned  his  brother, 
Though  riding  the  fleetest  of  mares,  and    safe  from  pursuit  of  the 

foeman, 

He  never  once  turned  to  inquire,  though  we  tasted  the  cup  of  destruc- 
tion. 

Oh  fair  and  beautiful  plain,  we  yesterday  fought  and  regained  thee  ! 
I  praise  and  honor  His  name,  who  only  the  victory  giveth  ! 
O,  Feisal,  we've  meted  to  you  your  deserts  in  royal  measure  ; 
With  our  spears  so  burning  and  sharp,  we  cut  off  the  necks  of  your 

Arabs, 

O,  Shepherd  of  Obaid,  you  fled  deserting  your  pastures, 
Biting  your  ringer  in  pain  and  regret  for  your  sad  disasters — 
Savage  hyena,  come  forth,  from  your  lair  in  the  land  of  Jedaileh, 


190 


THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


Howl  to  your  fellow-beasts,  in  the  distant  land  of  Butina  ; 

Come  and  eat  your  fill  of  the  dead  in  the  Plain  of  Fada, 

O,  fair  and  beautiful  plain,  you  belong  to  the  tribe  of  the  victor ; 

But  Feisal  is  racked  with  pain,  when  he  hears  the  battle  story, 

Our  right-handed  spearmen  have  palsied  his  arm  is  its  strength  and 

power  ; 

A  blow  fell  hard  on  his  breast,  from  the  hand  of  our  Anazy  warriors  ; 
Come  now,  ye  who  wish  for  peace,  we  are  ready  in  honor  to  meet  you  ! 
Our  wrongs  are  all  avenged,  and  our  arms  are  weary  of  battle. 

The  Arabic  original  of  these  lines  breathes  the 
true  spirit  of  poetry,  and  shows  that  the  old  poetic  fire 
still  burns  in  the  desert.  Feisal  now  lives  in  the  re- 
gion adjacent  to  Mohammed  Dukhy,  and  they  leave 
a  space  of  several  miles  between  their  camps  to  pre- 
vent trespass,  and  the  danger  of  re-opening  the  old 
blood-feud. 

I  would  commend  the  Arabs  of  the  Desert  to 
the  prayerful  remembrance  of  the  Women  of  Ameri- 
ca. How  the  gospel  is  to  reach  them,  is  one  of  the 
great  problems  of  our  day.  Their  women  are  sunk- 
en to  the  lowest  depths  of  physical  and  moral  de- 
gradation. The  extent  of  their  religion  is  in  being 
able  to  swear  Mohammedan  oaths.  "  Their  mouths 
are  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness  ;  their  feet  are  swift 
to  shed  blood  ;  destruction  and  misery  are  in  their 
ways,  and  the  way  of  peace  have  they  not  known." 
Although  their  hand  is  against  every  man,  and  every 
man's  hand  against  them,  let  them  feel  that  there  is 
one  class  of  men  who  love  them  and  care  for  them 
with  a  disinterested  love,  and  who  seek  their  ever- 
lasting welfare  ! 


CHAPTER    XV. 

"  WOMAN  BETWEEN  BARBARISM  AND  CIVILIZATION." 

HTHIS  is  the  title  of  an  Arabic  article  in  the  "  Je- 
nan"  for  Sept.  I,  1872,  written  by  Frances  Ef- 
fendi  Merrash,  brother  of  the  Sitt  Mariana,  whose 
paper  we  have  translated  on  a  preceding  page.  It  is 
evident  that  the  Effendi  writes  from  the  atmosphere 
of  Aleppo.  The  more  "  polite"  society  of  that  city 
is  largely  made  up  of  that  mongrel  population,  half 
French  and  half  Arab,  which  is  styled  "Levantine  " 
and  too  often  combines  the  vices  of  both,  with  the 
virtues  of  neither.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  able 
author  is  combatting  the  worst  form  of  French  flip- 
pant civilization,  which  has  already  found  its  way 
into  many  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  Orient. 
He  says : — 

"  Inasmuch  as  woman  constitutes  a  large  portion 
of  human  kind,  and  an  essential  element  in  society, 
as  well  as  the  leading  member  of  the  race  in  respect 
to  its  perpetuation,  it  becomes  necessary  both  to 
consider  and  speak  of  her  character  and  position,  al- 
though there  are  not  wanting  those  who  are  coarse 
enough  and  rude  enough  to  declare  woman  a  worth- 
less part  of  the  creation. 

"  Woman  possesses  a  nature  remarkably  impress!- 


1 92 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


ble  and  susceptible  to  influence,  owing  to  the  delica- 
cy of  her  organization  and  the  peculiarities  of  her 
structure.  Her  proper  culture  therefore  calls  for 
the  greatest  possible  skill  and  care  to  protect  her 
from  those  corrupting  influences  to  which  she  is  by 
nature  especially  susceptible.  We  should  therefore 
neither  leave  her  locked  in  the  fetters  of  the  ancient 
barbarism  and  rudeness,  nor  leave  her  free  to  the 
uncontrollable  liberty  of  this  modern  civilization,  for 
both  these  extremes  bring  her  into  one  common  evil 
estate  and  both  have  one  effect  upon  her. 

"  Have  you  not  observed  how  the  customs  of 
ancient  rude  barbarism  corrupted  tbe  manners  of 
woman  and  obliterated  all  those  virtues  and  excellen- 
cies for  which  she  is  especially'  designed  by  nature  ? 
It  was  deemed  most  opprobrious  for  woman  to  learn 
to  read  and  write,  to  say  nothing  of  other  arts.  It 
was  thought  indispensable  to  bind  upon  her  mouth 
the  fetters  of  profound  silence  so  that  none  ever 
heard  her  voice  but  her  own  coarse  husband,  and  the 
walls  of  the  enclosure  in  which  she  was  kept  impris- 
oned. She  had  no  liberty  of  thought  or  action. 
Every  woman's  thoughts  were  limited  by  the  thoughts 
of  her  husband,  and  her  character  was  cast  in  the 
mould  of  his,  whether  that  were  good  or  bad.  And 
in  addition  to  this,  she  always  suffered  from  whatever 
of  rudeness  there  might  be  in  her  rough  companion, 
who  availed  himself  of  his  superior  brute  physical 
strength  as  a  weapon  to  overcome  her  moral  power. 
He  scourged  and  cursed  and  despised  her  in  every 
possible  way,  when  she  was  innocent  of  crime  or  er- 


BARBARISM  AND  CIVILIZATION.  19$ 

ror.  As  a  result  of  this  course,  her  own  self  respect, 
and  the  feeling  that  she  was  abused  and  insulted  by 
her  companion  or  partner,  led  her  oftentimes  to  cast 
off  all  shame  and  modesty,  whenever  a  suitable  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself.  This  grew  out  of  the  fact 
that  she  no  longer  regarded  herself  as  the  companion 
of  her  husband  and  the  sharer  of  all  his  natural  and 
moral  rights,  his  joys  and  sorrows,  but  she  rather  imag- 
ined herself  his  captive  and  bond  slave.  She  thus  sank 
to  the  position  of  a  slave-woman  who  is  never  allow- 
ed peace  or  rest,  and  cares  nothing  for  the  training  of 
her  children  or  the  ordering  of  her  house,  since  she 
looks  upon  herself  as  a  stranger  in  a  home  not  her 
own,  and  we  all  know  how  difficult  it  is  for  a  slave  to 
perform  the  duties  of  the  free  ! 

"  On  the  other  hand,  have  you  not  observed  how 
the  influence  of  modern  civilization  is  corrupting 
the  nature  of  woman  and  making  havoc  with  her 
morals  ? 

"  There  is  nothing  strange  in  this,  for  her  deli- 
cate nature,  when  it  had  escaped  from  the.  chains 
and  imprisonment  of  the  mildest  barbarism,  into  the 
open  free  arena  of  civilization,  lost  its  reckoning, 
and  wandered  hither  and  thither  in  bewilderment 
according  to  its  own  unrestrained  passions.  Woman 
thus  became  like  a  feather,  '  Borne  on  the  tempest 
wherever  it  blows,  and  driven  about  where  no  one 
knows.' 

"  Now  since  evil  images  and  objects  are  far  more 
numerous  in  this  world  than  those  which  are  good, 
it  becomes  evident  that  the  influence  of  evil  upon 
9 


I94 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


the  mind  of  woman  is  stronger  and  more  abiding 
than  the  influence  of  the  good,  owing  to  this  intense 
delicacy  of  texture  in  her  mental  constitution.  Let 
us  suppose  that  one  man  and  one  woman  were 
placed  in  a  position  where  they  should  only  see  evil 
deeds,  or  only  good  deeds :  the  woman  would  leave 
that  place  either  vastly  worse  than  the  man,  or  vast- 
ly better.  Now  the  moral  misconduct  of  woman  is 
far  more  detrimental  to  the  propagation  of  the  race, 
than  is  the  misconduct  of  man.  It  is  therefore 
better  for  the  woman  not  to  go  to  the  extremes  of 
the  modern  civilization,  whose  evils  are  equal  to, 
yes,  and  far  surpass,  its  benefits.  Have  you  not  no- 
ticed that  the  leaders  of  modern  civilization  in  our 
age,  have  imitated,  if  not  surpassed,  all  the  excesses 
of  riot,  and  lust  and  rapine,  ever  practiced  under 
the  barbarism  of  the  ages  of  antiquity?  Do  not  the 
women  of  this  age  golower  in  shamelessness  than  the 
women  of  ancient  times?  Here  we  see  them  veiling 
their  faces  with  the  flimsy  gauze  of  artifice,  and  befoul- 
ing the  pure  waters  of  life  with  the  turbulent  stream 
of  their  own  vanity.  They  pollute  the  purity  of  real 
beauty  by  the  foul  arts  of  beautifying,  and  cry  out 
in  loud  rude  voices  in  every  assembly  and  gathering. 
They  strut  about  in  vain-glorious  conceit,  and 
flaunt  their  gaudy  apparel  in  indecent  boldness. 
They  claim  what  does  not  belong  to  them  and  med- 
dle with  what  does  not  concern  them.  They  do  not 
blush  to  cloud  the  precious  jewel  of  modesty  with 
the  selfish  airs  of  passion.  Nothing  is  said  which 
they  do  not  hear,  nothing  occurs  which  they  do  not 


BARBARISM  AND  CIVILIZATION.  ^5 

see.  They  become  bold,  unblushing  and  unwo- 
manly. 

"  Such  being  the  state  of  things,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  an  excess  of  this  kind  of  civilization  for 
woman  amounts  to  about  the  same  thing  as  the  ex- 
cess of  her  rude  barbarism  in  ancient  times.  The 
two  extremes  meet.  The  dividing  line  between 
them  then,  that  is,  the  middle  course,  is  the  proper 
one  for  woman  to  take.  To  this  middle  course  there 
must  be  some  natural  and  legitimate  guide.  This 
guide  is  a  sound  education,  an'd  on  this  subject  we 
propose  at  some  future  time  to  write,  inasmuch  as 
the  education  of  woman  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant of  subjects.  Woman  is  the  one  fountain  from 
which  is  derived  the  life  of  man  in  its  earliest  pe- 
riods. She  is  the  source  of  all  training,  and  the 
root  of  character.  Have  you  not  heard  that  she 
who  rocks  the  cradle,  moves  the  world?" 

It  is  evident  that  the  author  of  this  paper  has 
not  been  so  happy  as  to  see  the  noblest  type  of  a 
sanctified  Christian  civilization,  such  as  can  be  seen 
in  the  Christian  homes  of  America  and  England,  or 
even  in  the  truly  Christian  homes  of  Syria.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant,  when  even  in 
Aleppo,  a  pure  Christianity  shall  have  taken  the 
place  of  that  semi-barbaric  system  styled  the  papacy, 
which  enthralls  the  intellects  and  hearts  of  so  many 
of  the  nominal  Christians  of  the  Orient,  and  when 
the  enslaved  inmates  of  the  Moslem  hareems  shall 
be  set  free,  not  to  indulge  in  the  license  of  a  Parisian 


196 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


libertinism,  but  with  that  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
makes  His  people  free  ! 

THE  VALUE   SET    ON     WOMAN'S   LIFE   IN   SYRIA. 

The  free  license  allowed  to  men  by  the  Koran  in 
the  beating  of  their  wives,  has  led  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  East  to  set  a  low  estimate  upon  the 
life  of  woman.  Until  recently  in  Syria  women  were 
poisoned,  thrown  down  wells,  beaten  to  death,  or 
cast  into  the  sea,  and  the  government  made  no  in- 
quisition into  the  matter.  According  to  Moham- 
medan law,  a  prosecution  for  murder  must  always 
be  commenced  by  the  friends  of  the  victim,  and  if 
they  do  not  enter  complaint,  or  furnish  witnesses, 
the  murderer  is  not  even  arrested.  And  if  he  be 
convicted  of  the  crime,  he  is  released  on  paying  to 
the  relatives  of  the  victim  the  price  of  blood,  which 
is  fixed  at  13,000  piastres,  or  $520!  A  man  may 
well  "  count  the  cost"  be'fore  committing  murder. 
This  constant  compounding  of  punishment  has  de- 
graded the  popular  views  of  the  value  of  human 
life,  so  that  formerly  the  murder  of  a  woman  was 
never  punished.  In  March,  1856,  a  Druze  girl  near 
B'hamdun  married  a  man  of  her  own  choice,  instead 
of  marrying  the  man  assigned  to  her  by  her  family. 
She  was  waylaid  by  her  own  brother  and  the  rejected 
suitor,  murdered  and  thrown  into  a  well. 

About  a  year  after  the  massacres  of  1860,  while 
the  European  Commissioners  were  still  in  Syria,  and 
Lebanon  was  beginning  to  attain  something  of  its 
wonted  quiet,  several  Turkish  soldiers  made  an  as- 


BARBARISM  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


I97 


sault  upon  a  young  Maronite  girl  from  the  village 
of  Ain  Kesur,  who  was  carrying  ajar  of  water  to  the 
workmen  on  the  Deir  el  Komr  road.  Mr.  Calhoun 
was  requested  by  the  Relief  Committee  in  Beirut  to 
devote  the  charity  funds  distributed  in  this  part  of 
Lebanon,  to  giving  employment  to  the  needy  in 
road-building.  This  girl  Was  employed  to  supply 
the  men  with  water.  The  brutal  soldiers  attempted 
to  gag  her  with  a  handkerchief,  in  order  to  accom- 
plish their  design,  but  she  was  too  strong  for  them. 
The  struggle  was  long  and  violent,  but  she  finally 
effected  her  escape,  leaving  on  the  road  the  frag- 
ments of  the  broken  jar,  her  shoes  and  shreds  of 
calico  which  they  had  torn  from  her  clothing.  Just 
at  that  moment  Giurgius  el  Haddad,  Mr.  Calhoun's 
cook,  came  up,  and  seeing  the  broken  jar  and  the 
clothing,  guessed  what  had  happened,  and  after 
finding  the  girl,  and  hearing  her  story,  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  soldiers  to  Ainab,  whither  they  had 
gone,  and  where  a  Turkish  officer  was  stationed. 
He  stated  the  case  to  the  officer,  and  received  in 
reply  a  blow  on  his  arm  from  a  heavy  cane.  The 
case  was  reported  to  the  Turkish  Colonel  in  Abeih, 
who  summoned  all  parties  and  ordered  each  of  the 
soldiers  to  be  beaten  with  forty  lashes  on  the  bare 
back.  But  word  had  reached  Col.  Frazier,  the  Brit- 
ish Commissioner,  and  he  came  at  once  to  Abeih  in 
company  with  Omar  Pasha,  with  order  from  Evad, 
Pasha,  to  examine  the  case  de  novo.  The  result  was 
that  two  of  the  soldiers  were  condemned  by  military 
law  to  be  shot,  and  were  shot  at  sunset  June  5t'h,  in 


1 98  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

front  of  the  old  palace  just  below  Mr.  Calhoun's 
house.  The  event  produced  a  profound  impression, 
and  Druzes  and  Moslems  began  to  feel  that  a  wo- 
man's life  and  honor  were  after  all  of  some  value. 

In  April,  1862,  when  Daud  Pasha  was  governor 
of  Mt.  Lebanon,  a  Druze,  named  Hassan,  murdered  a 
Druze  girl  of  his  own  village,  supposing  that  Daud 
Pasha  would  not  interfere  with  the  time-honored  cus- 
tom of  killing  girls  !  Much  to  his  surprise,  however,  he 
was  arrested,  convicted  and  hung,  and  the  poor 
women  of  all  sects  in  the  mountain  began  to  feel  that 
after  all  they  had  an  equal  right  to  life  with  the  other 
sex. 

In  most  parts  of  Syria  to-day,  the  murder  of 
women  and  girls  is  an  act  so  insignificant  as  hardly 
to  deserve  notice.  Mt.  Lebanon  and  vicinity  consti- 
tute an  exception  perhaps,  but  woman's  right  to  life 
is  one  of  those  rights  which  have  not  yet  been  fully 
guaranteed  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

In  October,  1862,  the  Arabic  official  newspaper  in 
Beirut,  contained  a  letter  from  Hums  which  illustrates 
this  fact.  A  fanatical  wretch  from  Hamath,  one  of  the 
infamous  Moslem  saints,  set  up  the  claim  that  he  had 
received  the  power  to  cast  out  devils  by  divine  in- 
spiration. He  found  credulous  followers  among  the 
more  ignorant,  and  went  to  Hums  to  practice  his  dia- 
bolical trade.  A  poor  woman  had  lost  her  reason 
through  excessive  grief  at  the  death  of  her  son.  The 
husband  and  others  of  her  relatives  went  to  consult 
the  new  prophet.  He  refused  to  go  and  see  her, 
stating  that  he  would  not  condescend  to  go  to  the 


BARBARISM  AND  CIVILIZA  TION.  igy 

devils,  but  the  devils  must  come  to  him.  The  poor 
woman  was  accordingly  brought  to  him,  and  left  to 
await  the  opportune  moment,  when  he  could  cast  out 
.the  devils,  which  he  declared  to  be  raving  within  her. 
After  a  few  days,  her  father  called  to  inquire  about 
her,  and  found  her  growing  constantly  worse.  The 
Hamathite  told  him  that  he  must  bring  a  gallon  of 
liquid  pitch,  to  be  used  as  a  medicine,  and  the  next 
day  the  devils  would  leave  her.  The  pitch  was 
brought,  and  after  the  father  had  gone,  the  lying 
prophet  tied  a  cord  around  her  feet,  and  drew  her  up 
to  the  ceiling,  and  while  she  was  thus  suspended, 
thrust  a  red  hot  iron  rod  into  one  of  her  eyes,  and 
cauterized  her  body  almost  from  head  to  foot !  He 
then  placed  the  pitch  on  the  floor  under  her  head,  and 
set  it  on  fire  until  the  body  was  "  burned  to  charcoal !  " 
The  next  day  the  friends  called,  expecting  to  find  her 
restored  to  her  right  mind,  when  the  wretch  pointed 
them  to  the  blackened  cinder.  They  exclaimed  with 
horror  and  asked  him  the  reason  of  this  bloody  crime  ? 
He  replied  that  on  applying  the  test  of  burning  pitch, 
one  of  the  devils  had  gone  out  of  her,  tearing  out  her 
right  eye,  and  when  he  forbade  the  rest  from  destroy- 
ing the  other  eye,  they  fell  upon  her  and  killed  her ! 
The  body  was  buried,  but  the  government  took  not 
the  slightest  notice  of  the  fact.  The  official  journal 
in  Beirut  simply  warned  the  public  against  patron- 
izing such  a  bloody  impostor ! 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

OPINIONS  OF  PROTESTANT  SYRIANS  WITH  REGARD  TO 
THE  WORK   OF  AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  SYRIA. 

"~PHE  following  letters  have  been  addressed  to  me 
by  prominent  native  Syrian  gentlemen,  whose 
wives  have  been  trained  in  the  American  Mission 
Seminaries  and  families.  They  all  write  in  English, 
and  I  give  their  own  language. 

Mr.  Butrus  el  Bistany,  the  husband  of  Raheel, 
writes  me  as  follows  : — 

BEIRUT,  Oct.  23,  1872. 

"  It  would  be  superfluous  to  speak  of  the  efforts 
of  American  Missionary  ladies  in  training  the  females 
of  Syria,  and  the  good  done  by  them. 

"  The  sainted  Sarah  L.  Smith,  who  was  one  of 
the  first  among  them,  established  the  first  Female 
School  in  Beirut. 

"  Mrs.  Whiting,  also,  who  had  no  children  of  her 
own,  trained  five  girls  in  her  family,  all  of  whom  are 
still  living. 

"  Mrs.  De  Forest  had  a  very  interesting  female 
school  in  her  family,  and  the  girls  educated  in  that 
school  are  of  the  best  of  those  educated  by  Ameri- 
can ladies  in  Syria. 

"  The  obstacles  in  those  times  were  very  great,  and 


OPINIONS  OF  PROTESTANT  SYRIANS.        2OI 

the  people  believed  that  education  is  injurious  to  fe- 
males. But  these  ladies  obtained  a  few  girls  to  edu- 
cate gratuitously,  and  thus  made  a  good  impression 
on  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  wrought  a  change  in 
public  opinion,  so  that  year  by  year  the  people  be- 
gan to  appreciate  female  education.  And  as  we  are 
now  building  on  the  foundation  laid  by  those  good 
ladies  and  reaping  the  fruit  of  their  labors,  we  should 
pray  to  be  imbued  with  the  same  spirit,  and  try  as 
much  as  we  can  to  follow  their  example,  and  carry  on 
the  work  with  the  same  spirit,  zeal  and  wisdom  as 
they  did." 

Mr.  Naame  Tabet,  the  husband  of  Miriam,  who 
was  educated  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  De  Forest,  writes  as 
follows : — 

BEIRUT,  Oct.  21,  1872. 

"^It  affords  me  unfeigned  gratification  that  you 
give  me  an  opportunity  of  recording  my  impressions 
in  regard  to  the  advantages  of  female  education  in 
this  country  under  the  guidance  of  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  such  as  is  exempli- 
fied by  the  American  Mission,  whose  labors  in  diffus- 
ing and  disseminating  the  Scriptures  are  so  conspic- 
uously manifest. 

"  That  example  chiefly  has  had  the  effect,  in  this 
neighborhood,  to  stir  up  gigantic  efforts  to  fill  the 
want  of  female  education.  The  same  feeling  is  ex- 
tending itself  throughout  Syria,  so  that  future  pros- 
pects for  the  promotion  of  pure  Christian  knowledge 
and  true  civilization  are  brilliant  and  ought  surely  to 
Q* 


2Q2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

encourage  the  benevolent  in  persevering  in  their  ac- 
tion." 

The  Rev.  John  Wortabet,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Anatomy  in  the  Syrian  Protestant  College,  and  hus- 
band of  Salome,  writes  as  follows  : — 

BEIRUT,  Oct.  20,  1872. 

"  Though  I  was  very  young  when  Mrs.  Smith, 
Mrs.  Whiting,  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  began  their  la- 
bors in  the  cause  of  Female  Education  in  Syria,  I 
can  distinctly  recollect  that  they  were  the  first  to  ini- 
tiate that  movement  which  has  grown  to  so  vast  an 
extent  at  the  present  time.  To  them  belongs  the 
honor  of  having  been  the  determined  and  brave  pio- 
neers in  the  important  work  of  raising  woman  from 
her  degraded  position,  brought  on  by  ignorance  and 
Mohammedan  influence,  to  one  of  considerable  re- 
spect, in  a  social,  intellectual  and  moral  point  of 
view.  I  do  not  mean  that  they  achieved  then  this 
great  and  worthy  object,  but  they  were  first  to  begin 
the  work,  which  is  still  going  on,  and  destined  appa- 
rently to  grow  much  farther.  And  it  is  but  just  that 
their  names  and  primary  labors  be  embalmed  in  the 
memories  of  the  past. 

"  Aside  from  the  intrinsic  good  which  they  accom- 
plished, and  the  direct  fruits  of  their  labors,  and  you 
are  as  well  acquainted  with  them  as  I  am — they  gave 
the  first  and  best  teachers  for  the  schools  which  have 
sprung  up  so  abundantly  since  their  time.  Of  the 
importance  of  giving  well-trained  female  teachers  for 


OPINIONS  OF  PROTESTANT  SYRIANS. 


203 


female  schools,  in  the  peculiar  social  system  of  the 
East,  nothing  need  be  said. 

' '  I  believe,  however,  that  the  main  value  of  these 
earlier  labors  was  the  impulse  which  they  gave  to  the 
course  of  Female  Education  in  Syria.  Prejudices 
and  barriers,  which  had  become  hoary  by  the  lapse 
of  time,  have  been  completely  broken  down,  at  least 
among  the  Christian  Churches  of  the  East." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OTHER    LABORS    FOR    WOMEN    AND    GIRLS    IN    THIS 
FIELD. 

'"PHE  following  statements  have  been  chiefly  made 
out  from  documents  furnished  to  me  by  those 
in  charge  of  the  various  Institutions.  I  give  them 
in  order  according  to  the  date  of  tlieir  establish- 
ment. 

THE    IRISH    AND   AMERICAN    UNITED   PRESBYTERIAN 
MISSION  IN  DAMASCUS. 

I  have  not  received  official  statistics  with  regard 
to  the  work  of  this  Mission  in  behalf  of  women,  but 
they  have  maintained  schools  for  girls  and  personal 
labors  for  the  women  through  a  long  series  of  years. 
Mrs.  Crawford,  who  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
Arabic  language,  has  labored  in  a  quiet  and  perse- 
vering manner  among  the  women  of  Damascus  and 
Tebrad,  and  the  fruits  of  these  labors  will  be  seen  in 
years  to  come.  Miss  Dales,  now  Mrs.  Dr.  Lansing, 
of  Cairo,  conducted  a  school  for  Jewish  girls  in 
Damascus  some  fifteen  years  ago,  which  was  well 
attended. 

Mrs.  E.  Watson,  an  English  lady  of  great  energy 
and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  female  education,  after  years 


OTHER  LABORS  FOR   WOMEN  AND  GIRLS.    205 

of  labor  in  North  and  South  America,  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor,  came  to  Syria  in  1858,  and  commenced  a  girls' 
school  in  her  own  hired  house.  She  afterwards 
removed  to  Shemlan,  in  Mount  Lebanon,  'where 
she  erected  a  building  at  her  own  expense  for  a 
girls'  boarding  school,  and  afterwards  gave  it  to  the 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Female  Education  in 
the  East.  She  has  since,  with  untiring  energy, 
erected  another  building  for  a  Seminary  for  Druze 
and  Christian  girls,  the  former  Institution  continuing 
as  it  has  been  for  many  years  under  the  efficient: 
management  of  Miss  Hicks,  assisted  by  Miss  Dob-- 
bie.  She  has  also  recently  erected  a  neat  and  sub- 
stantial church  edifice  in  Shemlan. 

In  Miss  Hicks'  absence,  Mrs.  Watson  has  ad- 
dressed me  the  following  letter : 

SHEMLAN,  August  28, 1872. 

"Our  first  school  for  native  girls  was  commenced 
in  Beirut  in  1858.  The  teachers  have  been  Miss 
Hicks,  Miss  Hiscock,  Mrs.  Walker,  Miss  Dillon,  Miss 
Jacombs,  (now  in  Sidon,)  Miss  Stainton,  (now  in 
Sidon,)  and  Miss  Dobbie.  No  native  female  teach- 
ers have  been  employed  except  pupils  of  the  school 
under  Miss  Hicks'  care.  Masters  Riskullah  in  Beirut, 
and  Murad,  Reshid  and  Daud,  in  Shemlan,  have 
been  connected  with  the  school  as  teachers  of  the 
higher  Arabic  branches. 

"  The  whole  number  of  boarders  under  our  care 
up  to  the  present  time,  is  above  one  hundred.  The 
only  teachers  in  my  second  boarding  school  are,  my 


2C>6  THE    WOMEX  OF  THE  ARABS. 

adopted  daughter  Handiimeh,  and  Zarifeh  Twiney,  a 
pupil  of  the  Prussian  Deaconesses.  Seventeen  or 
eighteen  of  our  pupils  have  been,  or  are  now  teach- 
ers, and  ten  are  married. 

"  The  school  directed  by  Miss  Hicks  was  given 
over  to  the  Ladies'  Society  in  England,  some  six  or 
seven  years  ago,  and  has  been  supported  by  them 
since.  The  new  school  in  the  upper  house  is  under 
no  society  and  is  not  regularly  aided  by  any.  There 
are  from  twenty-six  to  twenty-eight  boarders  under 
the  care  of.  my  daughter,  Miss  Watson,  I  aiding  as  I 
can.  Several  girls  have  been  supported  for  the  last 
two  years  by  friends  in  America  and  England.  We 
have  had  ten  Druze  girls  in  our  school  in  the  upper 
house.  Miss  Hicks  has  had  three  or  four,  and  a 
number  in  her  day  school.  We  had  also  a  number 
in  our  day  school  at  Aitah,  four  of  whom  are  mar- 
ried to  Druze  Sheikhs." 

Mr.  Elias  Suleeby,  aided  by  friends  in  Scotland, 
has  for  a  considerable  period  conducted  common 
schools  in  a  part  of  Mount  Lebanon  and  the  Bukaa, 
and  now  the  enterprise  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  who  have  sent  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Rae  to  be  their  Superintendent. 

Their  schools  are  chiefly  for  boys,  though  in  all 
the  village  schools  it  is  usual  for  a  few  of  the  smaller 
girls  to  attend  the  boys'  school.  In  Suk  el  Ghurb, 
however,  they  have  a  boarding  school  containing 
some  twenty-five  girls. 
THE  PRUSSIAN  DEACONESSES  INSTITUTE  IN  BEIRUT. 

The  Orphan  House,  Boarding  School  and  Hos- 


OTHER   WORK  F0£   WOMEN  AND  GIRLS.        2O/ 

pital  with  which  the  Prussian  Deaconesses  are  con- 
nected, were  established  in  1860.  The  two  former 
are  supported  by  the  Kaiserswerth  Institution  in 
Germany,  and  the  latter  by  the  Knights  of  St.  John. 

In  the  Orphan  House  are  one  hundred  and 
thirty  orphan  girls,  all  native  Syrians,  who  are  clothed, 
fed  and  instructed  for  four  or  five  years,  and  often 
transformed  from  wild,  untutored  semi-barbarians  to 
tidy,  well  behaved  and  useful  young  women.  They 
have  ordinarily  about  fifty  applicants  waiting  for  a 
vacancy  in  order  to  enter. 

The  Boarding  School  is  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  European  residents,  Germans,  French, 
Italians,  Greeks,  Maltese,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  Hun- 
garians, Dutch,  Swiss,  Danish,  Americans  and  others. 
The  medium  of  instruction  is  the  French  language. 

Since  the  Orphan  School  began,  many  of  the 
girls  have  married,  thirty  have  become  teachers,  and 
about  twenty  of  them  are  living  as  servants  in 
families. 

In  August  of  the  year  1861,  the  Deaconesses  had 
received  about  no  orphans.  The  children  entering 
are  received  for  three  years,  and  the  surviving  parent 
or  guardian  is  required  to  sign  a  bond,  agreeing  to 
leave  the  child  for  that  period,  or  if  the  child  is  with- 
drawn before  that  time,  to  pay  to  the  Deaconesses 
all  that  has  been  expended  upon  her. 

In  the  summer  of  1861,  several  of  the  parents 
came  and  tried  to  remove  their  children,  though 
they  had  no  means  of  supporting  them,  but  the  con- 
tract stood  in  the  way,  and  they  had  no  money  to 


2o8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

pay.  The  Jesuits  then  came  forward  and  furnished 
the  parents  with  French  gold  in  Napoleons,  and 
withdrew  in  one  day  fifty  orphan  girls  from  the  insti- 
tution, sending  them,  not  to  an  institution  of  their 
own,  but  turning  them  back  upon  their  wretched 
parents1  and  friends  to  be  trained  in  poverty  and 
ignorance.  A  few  days  later,  thirty  more  of  the 
girls  were  removed  in  the  same  way,  leaving  only 
thirty.  The  parents  had  a  legal  right  to  remove  the 
children  on  the  payment  of  the  money,  but  what 
shall  be  said  of  the  cruelty  of  the  Jesuits  who  turned 
back  these  wretched  children  to  the  destitution  and 
misery  of  a  Syrian  orphan?  The  Jesuits  are  the 
same  everywhere,  unscrupulous  and  intriguing,  count- 
ing all  means  as  right,  which  promote  their  own  end. 

THE   BRITISH   SYRIAN  SCHOOLS. 

These  Schools,  so  numerous  and  widely  extended, 
have  grown  up  since  the  massacre  year  1860.  I  re- 
member well  the  first  arrival  of  Mrs.  Bowen  Thomp- 
son in  Beirut,  and  her  persevering  energy  in  forming 
her  little  school  for  the  widows  aud  orphans  of  Has- 
beiya,  Deir  el  Komr  and  Damascus. 

From  that  little  beginning  in  1860,  the  school  in- 
creased the  following  year,  until  finally  other  branch 
schools  were  organized  in  Beirut  and  Lebanon,  and 
then  in  Damascus  and  Tyre,  until  now,  the  following 
schedule,  furnished  to  me  by  the  officers  of  the  Insti- 
tution, will  show  to  what  proportions  the  enterprise 
has  grown.  The  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Thompson,  entitled 
"  The  Daughters  of  Syria, '  gives  so  full  a  history  of 


OTHER   WORK  FOR   WOMEN  AND  GIRLS. 


209 


these  schools,  that  I  need  only  refer  the  reader  to 
that  volume  for  all  the  information  desired.  Since  the 
lamented  death  of  Mrs.  Thompson,  the  direction  of 
the  schools  has  been  entrusted  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  Men- 
tor Mott.  The  Central  Training  School  in  Beirut 
was  under  the  care  of  Mrs.  Shrimpton,  who  labored 
with  great  earnestness  and  wisdom  in  that  important 
institution  until  the  spring  of  1873,  when  she  resigned 
her  position  and  became,  connected  with  the  work  of 
Female  education  under  the  American  mission  in 
Syria.  She  was  aided  by  English  and  native  teachers. 
The  schools  in  Zahleh,  Damascus,  Hasbeiya  and 
Tyre  are  under  the  care  of  English  and  Scotch  ladies, 
who  have  certainly  evinced  the  most  admirable  cour- 
age and  resolution  in  entering,  in  several  of  these 
places,  upon  outpost  duty,  without  European  society, 
and  isolated  for  months  together  from  persons  speak- 
ing their  own  language.  I  believe  that  such  instan- 
ces as  these  have  demonstrated  anew  the  fact  that 
where  woman  is  to  be  reached,  woman  can  go,  and 
Christian  women  from  Christian  lands,  even  if  beyond 
the  age  generally  fixed  as  the  best  adapted  to  the 
easy  acquisition  of  a  foreign  language,  may  yet  do  a 
great  work  in  maintaining  centres  of  influence  at  the 
outposts,  and  superintending  the  labors  of  native  teach- 
ers. These  young  native  teachers  trained  in  Shem- 
lan,  Sidon,  Suk  el  Ghurb  and  Beirut,  cannot  go  to 
distant  places  as  teachers,  and  ougJit  not  to  go,  with- 
out a  home  and  proper  protection  provided  for  them. 
Such  protection  is  given  by  a  European  or  American 
woman,  who  has  the  independence  and  the  resolution 


2IQ  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

to  go  where  no  missionary  family  resides,  and  carry 
on  the  work  of  female  education.  Even  at  the  risk 
of  offending  the  modesty  of  the  persons  concerned,  I 
cannot  refrain  from  putting  on  record  my  admiration 
of  the  course  of  Miss  Wilson  in  Zahleh,  Miss  Gibbon 
in  Hasbeiya,  and  Miss  Williams  in  Tyre,  in  making 
homes  for  themselves,  and  carrying  on  their  work  far 
from  European  society  and  intercourse. 

The  British  Syrian  Schools  are  doing  a  good  work 
in  promoting  Bible  education.  Many  of  the  native 
teachers,  male  and  female,  have  been  trained  in  our 
Mission  Seminaries,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  mem- 
bers of  our  evangelical  churches.  It  has  always  been 
my  aim,  from  the  time  when  Mrs]  Bowen  Thompson 
first  landed  in  Syria  to  the  present  time,  to  do  all  in  my 
power  to  "  help  those  women  which  labored  with  me 
in  the  gospel." 

We  are  engaged  in  a  common  work,  surrounded 
by  thousands  of  needy  perishing  souls,  Mohammedan, 
Pagan  and  Nominal  Christian.  The  work  is  pressing, 
and  the  Lord's  husbandmen  ought  to  work  together, 
forgetting  and  ignoring  all  diversities  of  nationality, 
denomination  and  social  customs.  There  should  be 
no  such  word  as  American,  English,  Scotch  or  Ger- 
man, attached  to  any  enterprise  that  belongs  to  the 
common  Master.  The  common  foe  is  united  in  op- 
position. Let  us  be  united  in  every  practicable  way. 
Let  our  name  be  Christian,  our  work  one  of  united 
sympathy,  prayer  and  cooperation,  and  let  not  Christ 
be  divided  in  His  members.  I  write  these  words  in 
connection  with  the  subject  of  the  British  Syrian 


OTHER   WORK  FOR    WOMEN  AND  GIRLS.      211 

Schools,  because  I  can  speak  from  experience  of  the 
value  of  such  cooperation  in  the  past.  As  Acting 
Pastor  of  the  Native  Evangelical  Church  in  Beirut, 
to  the  communion  of  which  I  have  received  so  many 
young  teachers  and  pupils  from  the  various  Semi- 
naries and  schools,  I  feel  the  great  importance  of  this 
hearty  cooperation  and  unity  of  action  among  those 
who  are  at  the  head  of  the  various  Protestant  Edu- 
cational Institutions  in  Syria. 

The  Emissaries  of  Rome  are  laboring  with  sleep- 
less vigilance  to  win  Syria  to  the  Papacy.  Sisters 
of  Charity,  Sisters  of  Nazareth,  Jesuits,  Lazarists, 
Capuchins,  Dominicans,  and  Franciscans,  monks, 
nuns  and  papal  legates,  are  swarming  throughout 
the  land.  Though  notoriously  jealous  of  each  oth- 
er's progress,  they  are  always  united  in  their  com- 
mon opposition  to  the  Evangelical  faith,  and  an 
open  Bible.  We  have  thus  not  only  the  old  colossal 
fortresses  of  Syrian  error  to  demolish,  but  the  new 
structures  of  Jesuitical  craft  to  overturn,  before  Syria 
comes  to  Christ. 

It  has  been  stated  on  a  preceding  page  that  in 
1835,  the  American  wife  of  an  English  merchant, 
Mrs.  Alexander  Tod,  gave  a  large  part  of  the  funds 
to  build  the  first  school-house  for  girls  ever  built  in 
Syria.  That  substantial  union  has  been  happily  re- 
produced in  the  cordial  cooperation  of  the  Anglo- 
American  and  German  communities  in  Beirut, 
both  in  the  Church,  public  charities  and  educational 
institutions,  up  to  the  present  time. 

Let  us  all  live  in  Christ,  work  for  Christ,  keep 


212 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


our  eye  fixed  on   Christ,  and  we  shall  be  with  Christ, 
and  Christ  with  us ! 

BRITISH  SYRIAN  SCHOOLS,  1872. 

BEIRUT. 


No. 

ESTABLISHED. 

NAME. 

SCHOLARS. 

TEACHEI 

I 

1860 

Training  Institution, 

92 

16 

2 

1863 

'    Musaitebeh, 

85 

3 

3 

1868 

Blind  School,  men  & 

boys,    16 

2 

4 

1868 

Blind  girls'  School, 

ii 

I 

5 

i860 

Boys'  School, 

85 

5 

6 

1861 

East  Coombe, 

120 

4 

7 

1860 

Elementary, 

30 

2 

8 

1872 

Es-Saifeh, 

100 

4 

9 

1860 

Infant  School, 

125 

3 

10 

'       1860 

Moslem, 

50 

4 

ii 

1860 

Night  School, 



5 

12 

1863 

Olive  Branch, 

85 

4 

DAMASCUS. 

13 

1867 

St.  Paul's, 

170 

6 

14 

1869 

Blind  School, 

15 

I 

15 

1870 

Medan, 

80 

2 

16 

1867 

Night  School, 

30 

I 

LEBANON. 

17 

1863 

Ashrafiyeh 

53 

3 

18 

1868 

Ain  Zehalteh, 

5o 

2 

19 

1869 

Aramoon, 

40 

2 

2Q 

1863 

Hasbeiya, 

1  60 

3 

21 

1867 

Mokhtara, 

—  , 

— 

22 

1868 

Zahleh, 

75 

4 

TYRE. 

23 

1869 

Girls'  School, 

50 

2 

Totals, 

.            .             . 

.    1522 

7S 

Bible  Women, 

• 

7 

OTHER   WORK  FOR   WOMEN  AA'D  GIRLS. 


213 


MISS  TAYLOR'S  SCHOOL  FOR  MOSLEM  GIRLS. 

This  worthy  Christian  lady  from  Scotland  is  do- 
ing a  quiet  yet  most  effective  work  in  Beirut,  with 
which  few  are  acquainted,  yet  it  is  carried  on  in  faith 
from  year  to  year,  and  the  fruits  will  no  doubt  appear 
one  day,  in  a  vast  reformation  in  the  order,  morality 
and  general  improvement  of  the  Moslem  families  of 
Beirut. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Smith,  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  Dodge,  Moslem  girls  have  been  more  or 
less  in  attendance  upon  the  schools  of  the  Syria  Mis- 
sion, but  the  purely  Moslem  schools  of  Miss  Taylor 
and  of  the  British  Syrian  Schools  are  making  a  spe- 
cial effort  to  extend  education  into  every  Moslem 
household. 

This  school  was  opened  in  February,  1868,  for  the 
poorest  of  the  poor.  It  received  the  name  of  "  The 
Original  Ragged  school  for  Moslem  Girls."  No  one 
is  considered  as  enrolled,  who  has  not  been  at  least 
three  weeks  in  regular  attendance.  The  number  al- 
ready received  has  reached  very  near  five  hundred, 
all  Mohammedans,  except  five  Jewish  and  fifteen 
Druze  girls.  Native  teachers  are  also  employed,  and 
the  pupils  are  taught  reading,  writing,  geography, 
and  arithmetic.  The  principal  lesson-book  is  the 
Bible.  The  early  history  of  this  institution  is  replete 
with  interest ;  but  it  has  attracted  little  public  notice 
hitherto.  It  has  always  been  a  prudential  question 
whether  it  would  not  be  wiser  to  proceed  with  its 
work  in  a  quiet  unobtrusive  way,  so  as  not  to  awake 


2I4 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


fanatical  opposition.  But  steady  and  appreciative 
friends  have  stood  by  it  from  the  beginning,  and 
those  who  know  the  school  best  have  commended  it 
most  earnestly. 

CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND  SCHOOL  FOR  JEWISH  GIRLS  IN 
BEIRUT. 

This  school  has  been  in  operation  since  1865. 
Although  established  originally  for  Jewish  girls  alone, 
of  whom  it  frequently  had  fifty  in  regular  attend- 
ance, it  has  also  had  under  instruction,  Greek  and 
Moslem  girls. 

Three  European  teachers  and  two  native  teach- 
ers have  been  connected  with  it,  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Rev.  James  Robertson,  Pastor  of  the 
Anglo-American  congregation  in  Beirut. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   AMOUNT   OF   BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION  GIVEN  IN 
MISSION  SCHOOLS. 

'T^HERE  has  been  great  difference  of  opinion 
with  regard  to  the  proper  position  of  Education 
in  the  Foreign  Missionary  work.  While  some  have 
given  it  the  first  rank  as  a  missionary  agency,  others 
have  kept  it  in  the  background  as  being  a  non-mis- 
sionary work,  and  hence  to  be  left  to  the  natives 
themselves  to  conduct,  after  their  evangelization  by 
the  simple  and  pure  preaching  of  the  gospel.  The 
Syria  Mission  have  been  led,  by  the  experience  of 
long  and  laborious  years  of  labor  in  this  peculiar 
field,  to  regard  education  as  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant auxiliaries  in  bringing  the  Gospel  in  contact 
with  the  people.  Society  and  sects  are  so  organized 
and  constituted,  that  while  the  people  of  a  given 
village  would  not  receive  a  missionary  as  simply  a 
preacher  of  the  Gospel,  they  will  gladly  accept  a 
school  from  his  hands,  and  welcome  him  on  every 
visit  to  the  school  as  a  benefactor.  They  will  not 
only  receive  the  daily  lessons  and  instructions  of 
the  school-teacher  in  religious  things,  but  even  ask 
the  missionary  to  preach  to  them  the  Word  of  life. 
Schools  in  Syria  are  entering  wedges  for  Gospel 
truth. 


2l6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Our  schools  are  of  two  classes,  the  High  schools 
or  Seminaries  for  young  men  and  young  women, 
and  the  common  schools  for  children  of  both  sexes. 
In  the  former,  Biblical  instruction  is  the  great  thing, 
the  chief  design  of  the  High  schools  being  to  train 
the  young  to  a  correct  and  thorough  acquaintance 
with  Divine  truth.  The  course  of  Bible  instruction 
conducted  by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  Abeih  Seminary,  is,  I 
doubt  not,  more  thorough  and  constant,  than  in  any 
College  or  High  School  in  the  United  States. 
While  the  sciences  are  taught  systematically,  the 
Bible  is  made  the  principal  text-book,  and  several 
hours  each  day  are  given  to  its  study.  In  our  com- 
mon schools,  likewise,  Bible  reading  and  instruction 
hold  a  prominent  place.  Owing  to  the  paucity  of 
books  in  the  Arabic  language  proper  to  be  used  as 
reading  books,  a  reading  book  was  prepared  by  the 
Mission,  consisting  almost  exclusively  of  extracts 
from  the  Scriptures.  In  addition  to  this  book,  the 
Psalms  of  David  and  the  New  Testament  are  used 
as  regular  reading  books  in  all  the  schools.  There 
are  daily  exercises  in  reading  the  Bible  and  reciting 
the  Catechism.  It  will  be  observed  from  what  I 
have  stated,  that  the  amount  of  spiritual  knowledge 
acquired  by  the  children,  in  the  very  process  of 
learning  to  read,  is  not  small.  Being  obliged  to 
commit  to  memory  texts,  paragraphs,  and  whole 
chapters,  from  year  to  year,  their  minds  become 
stored  with  the  precious  words  of  the  Sacred  Book. 
Very  much  depends  upon  the  teacher.  When  we 
can  obtain  pious,  praying  teachers,  the  Scripture 


A         \\      *""  . 

\ 

0  ** 

wi 

^                                                   3 

"*5a                           25 

•'''•V                     ^^        TJ 

i  ^     O  § 

^_                            at 

i  ] 

i° 

>] 

JTN         .  —     —                          2 

•5        ,         < 

^                 ^j  * 

A      \ 

AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION.        2I/ 

lessons  can  be  given  with  much  more  profit  and  suc- 
cess, and  it  is  our  aim  to  employ  only  pious  teachers 
where  we  can  get  them.  And  the  example  of  the 
teacher  receives  a  new  auxiliary,  as  it  were,  in  im- 
pressing these  lessons  on  the  mind,  where  the  pupils 
can  attend  a  preaching  service  on  the  Sabbath. 
Sometimes  a  pressing  call  comes  from  a  village, 
where  it  seems  important  for  strategic  reasons,  to 
respond  at  once.  A  pious  teacher  cannot  be  found, 
and  we  send  a  young  man  of  well-known  moral  char- 
acter. But  only  necessity  would  oblige  us  to  do 
this,  and  a  change  for  the  better  is  always  made  as 
soon  as  practicable. 

Bible  schools  are  a  mighty  means  of  usefulness. 
I  think  nothing  strikes  a  new  missionary  with  more 
grateful  surprise  on  entering  the  Syrian  Mission- 
field,  than  to  witness  the  great  prominence  given  to 
Biblical  instruction,  from  the  humblest  village  school 
of  little  Arab  boys  and  girls,  to  the  highest  Semi- 
naries. The  examinations  in  the  Scriptures  passed 
by  the  young  men  in  Abeih,  and  the  girls  in  the 
Beirut  and  Sidon  Seminaries,  would  do  credit  to  the 
young  people  in  any  American  community.  Bible 
schools  are  not  merely  useful  as  an  entering  wedge 
to  give  the  missionary  a  position  and  an  influence 
among  the  people;  they  are  intrinsically  useful  in 
introducing  a  vast  amount  of  useful  Bible  knowledge 
into  the  minds  of  the  children,  and  through  them  to 
their  parents.  In  countries  where  the  people  as  a 
mass  are  ignorant  of  reading,  they  are  an  absolute 
necessity,  and  in  any  community  they  are  a  blessing. 


2i8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Had  all  Mission  Schools  been  conducted  on  the 
same  thorough  Biblical  basis  as  those  in  Syria,  there 
would  have  been  less  objection  to  schools  as  a  part 
of  the  missionary  work. 

THE    SPHERE  AND     MODES    OF    WOMAN'S   WORK    IN 
FOREIGN  LANDS. 

In  this  age,  when  Christian  women  in  many 
lands  are  engaging  in  the  Foreign  Mission  work 
with  so  much  zeal,  it  is  important  to  know  who 
should  enter  personally  upon  this  work,  and  what 
are  the  modes  and  departments  of  labor  in  which 
they  can  engage  when  on  the  ground. 

No  woman  should  go  to  the  Foreign  field  who 
has  not  sound  health,  thorough  education,  and  a 
reasonable  prospect  of  being  able  to  learn  a  foreign 
language.  The  languages  of  different  nations  differ 
as  to  comparative  ease  of  acquisition,  but  it  is  well 
for  any  one  who  has  the  Arabic  language  to  learn, 
to  begin  as  early  in  life  as  practicable.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  work  in  foreign  lands  is  a 
self-denying  work,  and  I  know  of  no  persons  who 
are  called  to  undergo  greater  self-denial  than  un- 
married women  engaged  in  religious  work  abroad. 
They  are  doing  a  noble  work,  a  necessary  work, 
and  a  work  of  lasting  usefulness.  Deprived  in 
many  instances  of  the  social  enjoyments  and  pro- 
tection of  a  home,  they  make  a  home  in  their 
schools,  and  throw  themselves  into  a  peculiar  sym- 
pathy with  their  pupils,  and  the  families  with 
which  they  are  brought  into  contact.  Where  sev- 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION. 


2I9 


eral  are  associated  together,  as  they  always  should 
be,  the  institution  in  which  they  live  becomes  a 
model  of  the  Christian  order,  sympathy  and  mutual 
help,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  home  in  Christian 
lands.  Christian  women,  married  and  unmarried, 
can  reach  a  class  in  every  Arabic  community  from 
which  men  are  sedulously  excluded.  They  should 
enter  upon  the  foreign  work  as  a  life-work,  devote 
themselves  first  of  all  to  the  mastery  of  the  language 
of  the  people,  open  their  eyes  to  all  that  is  pleasant 
and  attractive  among  the  natives,  and  close  them  to 
all  that  is  unlovable  and  repulsive,  resolved  to  love 
the  people,  and  what  pertains  to  them,  for  Christ's 
sake  who  died  for  them,  and  to  identify  themselves 
with  the  people  in  every  practicable  way.  Persons 
who  are  incapable  of  loving  or  admiring  anything 
that  is  not  American  or  English  had  better  remain 
in  America  or  England ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  no  surer  passport  to  the  affections  of  any 
people,  than  the  disposition  to  overlook  their  faults, 
and  to  treat  them  as  our  brethren  and  sisters  for 
whom  a  common  Saviour  died.  Let  no  missionary 
of  either  sex  who  goes  to  a  foreign  land,  think  that 
there  is  nothing  to  be  learned  from  Syrians  or  Hin- 
doos, Chinese  or  Japanese.  The  good  is  not  all 
confined  to  any  land  or  people. 

Among  the  departments  of  woman's  work  in  for- 
eign lands  are  the  following : — 

I.  Teaching    in  established  institutions,  Female 
Seminaries,  Orphan  Houses  and  High  Schools. 

II.  Acting  as  Nurses  in  Hospitals,  as  is  done  by 


22O  TfIE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  Prussian  Protestant  Deaconesses  of  Kaisenverth, 
who  are  scattered  over  the  East  and  doing  a  work  of 
peculiar  value. 

III.  Visiting  from  house  to  house,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  holding  religious  conversation  with  the 
people  in  tJieir  own  language.  This  can  only  be 
done  in  Syria  by  one  versed  in  the  Arabic,  and  able 
to  speak  wit /tout  an  interpreter. 

Ignorance  of  the  language  of  the  people,  is  a  bar- 
rier which  no  skill  of  an  interpreter  can  break  down, 
and  every  woman  who  would  labor  with  acceptance 
and  success  among  the  women  of  Syria,  must  be  able 
to  speak  to  them  familiarly  in  their  own  mother 
tongue.  Interpreters  may  be  honest  and  conscien- 
tious, but  not  one  person  in  a  thousand  can  translate 
accurately  from  one  language  to  another  without 
previous  preparation.  And  besides,  interpreters  are 
not  always  reliable.  There  is  still  living,  in  the  city 
of  Tripoli,  an  old  man  named  Abdullah  Yanni,  who 
acted  as  interpreter  for  a  Jewish  Missionary  some 
forty  years  ago.  He  tells  many  a  story  of  the  extra- 
ordinary shape  which  that  unsuspecting  missionary's 
discourses  assumed  in  passing  through  his  lips.  One 
day  they  went  through  the  principal  street  to  preach 
to  the  Moslems.  A  great  crowd  assembled,  and  Ab- 
dullah trembled,  for  in  those  days  of  darkness  Mos- 
lems oppressed  and  insulted  Christians  with  perfect 
impunity.  Said  the  missionary,  "  Tell  the  Moslems 
that  unless  they  all  repent  and  believe  in  Christ,  they 
will  perish  forever."  Abdullah  translated,  and  the 
Moslems  gave  loud  and  earnest  expression  to  their 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION. 


221 


delight.  They  declared,  "  That  is  so,  that  is  so,  wel- 
come to  the  Khowadja  !  "  Abdullah  had  told  them 
that  "  the  Khowadja  says,  that  he  loves  you  very 
much,  and  the  Engliz  and  the  Moslems  are  '  sowa 
sowa,'  i.  e.  together  as  one.'' 

Abdullah  soon  found  it  necessary  to  tejl  his  con- 
fiding friend  and  employer,  that  it  would  not  do  to 
preach  in  that  bold  manner,  for  if  he  should  translate 
it  literally,  the  Moslems  would  kill  both  of  them  on  the 
spot.  The  missionary  replied,  "  Let  them  kill  us 
then.''  Abdullah  said,  "  it  may  do  very  well  for  you, 
but  I  am  not  prepared  to  die,  and  would  prefer  to 
wait."  The  very  first  requisite  for  usefulness  in  a 
foreign  land  is  the  language.  It  might  be  well,  as  pre- 
viously intimated  in  this  volume,  that  in  each  of  the 
Female  Seminaries,  the.  number  of  the  teachers 
should  be  large  enough  to  allow  the  most  experi- 
enced in  the  language  to  give  themselves  for  a  portion 
of  each  week  to  these  friendly  religious  visits.  The 
Arab  race  are  eminently  a  sociable,  visiting  people,  and 
a  foreign  lady  is  always  welcome  among  the  women 
of  every  grade  of  society,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest. 

IV.  Holding  special  Women's  Meetings  of  the 
Female  Church  members  from  week  to  week  in  the 
homes  of  the  different  families.  The  neighboring 
women  will  come  in,  and  the  native  women,  who 
would  never  take  part  in  a  women's  prayer-meeting, 
in  the  presence  of  a  missionary,  will  gladly  do  it  with 
the  example  and  encouragement  of  one  of  their  own 
sex.  Such  meetings  have  been  conducted  in  Hums 


222  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  Tripoli,  in  Beirut,  Abeih,  Deir  el  Komr  and 
Sidon,  and  in  Suk  el  Ghurb,  B'hamdun,  Hasbeiya, 
and  Deir  Mimas  for  many  years.  Mrs.  Smith,  Mrs. 
Isaac  Bird,  Mrs.  Thomson,  Mrs.  Van  Dy.ck,  Mrs. 
Whiting,  Mrs.  Goodell,  Mrs.  Dr.  Dodge,  Miss  Will- 
iams, Miss  Tilden,  Mrs.  De  Forest,  Mrs.  Calhoun, 
Mrs.  Wilson,  Mrs.  Ford,  Mrs.  Foot,  Mrs.  Eddy,  and 
Mrs.  W.  Bird,  Mrs.  Lyons  and  Mrs.  Cheny,  Mrs.  Bliss, 
Miss  Temple,  Miss  Mason,  Mrs.  S.  Jessup  are  among 
the  American  Christian  women  who  have  labored  or 
are  still  laboring  for  the  welfare  of  their  sisters  in 
Syria,  and  younger  laborers  more  recently  entered 
into  the  work,  are  preparing  to  prosecute  the  work 
with  greater  energy  than  ever.  There  are  other 
names  connected  with  WomanTs  Work  in  Syria  as 
prosecuted  by  the  American  Mission,  but  the  list  is 
too  long  to  be  enumerated  in  full.  Many  of  them 
have  rested  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  fol- 
low them. 

THE   BEIRUT  FEMALE   SEMINARY. 

The  last  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States, 
speaks  of  these  two  Female  Seminaries  as  follows : 

"  The  Beirut  Seminary  is  conducted  by  Miss 
Everett,  Miss  Jackson  and  Miss  Loring,  containing 
forty  boarding  and  sixty  day  scholars,  where  the  ob- 
ject is  to  give  an  education  suited  to  the  wants  of 
the  higher  classes  of  the  people,  to  gain  a  control 
over  the  minds  of  those  females  who  will  be  most 
influential  in  forming  society  and  moulding  opinion. 


A  MO  UN  T  OF  BIBLICAL  INS  TR  UC  TION.        22$ 

This  hold  the  Papal  Sisters  of  Charity  have  striven 
earnestly  to  gain,  and  its  vantage  ground  was  not 
to  be  abandoned  to  them.  The  institution  is  rising 
in  public  esteem  and  confidence,  as  the  number  and 
the  class  of  pupils  in  attendance  testify.  The  Semi- 
nary is  close  to  the  Sanctuary,  not  less  in  sympathy 
than  in  position,  and  its  whole  influence  is  given  to 
make  its  pupils  followers  of  Christ." 

In  addition  to  this  brief  notice,  it  should  be  said 
that  there  are  in  the  Beirut  Seminary  thirty  charity 
boarders,  who  are  selected  chiefly  from  Protestant, 
Greek  and  Druze  families,  to  be  trained  for  teachers 
of  a  high  order  in  the  various  girls'  schools  in  the 
land.  A  special  Normal  course  of  training  is  con- 
ducted every  year,  and  it  is  believed  that  eventually 
young  women  trained  in  other  schools  will  enter 
this  Normal  Department  to  receive  especial  pre- 
paration for  the  work  of  teaching. 

The  charity  boarders  are  supported  by  the  con- 
tributions of  Sabbath  Schools  and  individuals  in  the 
United  States,  with  especial  reference  to  their  being 
trained  for  future  usefulness. 

After  an  experience  of  nearly  ten  years  in  conduct- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  correspondence  with  the 
patrons  of  this  school,  and  maintaining  their  interest 
in  the  pupils  and  teachers  whom  they  were  support- 
ing by  their  contributions,  I  would  venture  to  make 
a  few  suggestions  to  the  Christian  Mission  Bands, 
Societies,  Bible  Classes,  Sabbath  Schools  and  individ- 
uals who  are  doing  so  much  for  the  education  of 
children  in  foreign  lands. 


224 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


I.  Let  all  contributions  for  Women's  Work  and 
the  education  of  girls,  be  sent  through  the  Women's 
Boards  of  Missions,  or  if  that  is  not  convenient,  in  the 
form  of  a  banker's  draft  on  London,  payable  to  the 
Principal  of  the  Seminary  with  whom  you  have  cor- 
respondence. 

II.  If  possible,  allow  your  donation  to  be  used 
for  the  general  purposes  of  the  Seminary,  without 
insisting  that  a  special  pupil  or  teacher  be  assigned 
to  you.     But  if  it  be  not  possible  to  maintain  the  in- 
terest of  your  children  and  youth  in  a  work  so  distant 
without  some  special  object,  then  by  all  means, — 

III.  Do  not  demand  too  much  from  your  over- 
taxed sisters  in  the  foreign  field  in  the  way  of  letters 
and  reports.     The  labors  of  a  teacher  are  arduous 
everywhere.     But  when  instruction  is  given  in  a  for- 
eign language,  in  a  foreign  climate,  and  to  children 
of  a  foreign  nation,  these  labors  are  greatly  increased. 
Add  then  to  this  toil  correspondence  with  the  Board 
of  Missions,   the  daily  'study  of  the  language,   the 
work  of  visiting  among  the  people,  and  receiving  their 
visits,  and  you  can  understand  how  the  keeping  up 
of  correspondence  with  twenty  or  thirty  Sabbath 
Schools  and  Societies  is  a  burden  which  no  woman 
should  be  called  on  to  bear. 

IV.  Do  not  expect  sensational  letters  from  your 
friends  abroad.     Do  not  take  for  granted    that  the 
child  of  ten  years  of  age  you  are  supporting,  will 
develop  into  a  distinguished  teacher  or  Bible  woman 
before  the  arrival  of  the  next  mail.     Do  not  be  dis- 
couraged  if  you   have  to  wait  and  pray  for   years 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  J  NSTRUCTIOAT. 


225 


before  you  hear  good  tidings.  Should  any  of  the 
native  children  ever  send  you  a  letter,  (and  they 
have  about  as  clear  an  idea  of  who  you  are  and 
where  you  are,  as  they  have  of  the  satellites  of  Jupi- 
ter,) do  not  expect  from  their  youthful  productions 
the  elegance  of  Addison  or  the  eloquence  of  Burke. 
V.  Pray  very  earnestly  for  the  conversion  of  the 
pupils  in  Mission  Schools.  This  I  regard  as  the 
great  advantage  of  the  system  of  having  pupils  sup- 
ported by  Christians  in  the  home  churches,  and 
known  to  them  by  name.  They  are  made  the  sub- 
jects of  special  prayer.  This  is  the  precious  golden 
bond  which  brings  the  home  field  near  to  us,  and  the 
foreign  field  near  to  you.  Our  chief*  hope  for  these 
multitudes  of  children  now  receiving  instruction,  is, 
that  they  will  be  prayed  for  by  Christians  at  home. 

THE  SIDON  FEMALE  SEMINARY. 
The  Annual  Report,  above  mentioned,  speaks 
thus  of  the  Sidon  Seminary:  "It  is  conducted  by 
Miss  Jacombs  and  Miss  Stainton,  and  has  numbered 
about  twenty  boarders  and  six  day  scholars.  The 
boarders  are  exclusively  from  Protestant  families, 
selected  from  the  common  schools  in  all  parts  of  the 
field,  and  are  in  training  for  the  Mission  service,  as 
teachers  and  Bible  readers.  Four  of  the  graduates 
of  last  year  are  already  so  employed.  One  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  reaching  with  the  truth  the  minds  of 
the  women  in  the  numerous  villages  of  the  land, 
will  be  obviated  in  part,  as  th6  results  of  this  work 
are  farther  developed.  i 


226 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


"  There  has  been  considerable  seriousness  and 
some  hopeful  conversions,  in  both  these  seminaries 
during  the  past  year. 

"  The  work  is  worthy  of  the  interest  taken  in  it 
by  the  Women's  Boards  of  Missions,  and  by  socie- 
ties and  individuals  in  the  church  who  have  co-oper- 
ated in  it." 

The  Sidon  Seminary,  as  stated  on  a  previous 
page,  was  begun  in  1862,  and  has  had  four  European 
and  six  native  teachers.  Of  the  latter,  one  was 
trained  in  Mrs.  Bird's  family,  one  in  Shemlan  Semi- 
nary, three  in  the  Sidon  school,  and  one  by  Mrs. 
Watson. 

Ten  of  its  graduates  have  been  employed  as 
teachers,  and  eight  are  still  so  engaged. 

I  annex  a  list  of  Girls'  Schools  now  or  formerly 
connected  with  the  Syria  Mission. 


LOCATION. 

Beirut, 
Sidon, 

Day  School, 
Seminary, 
Seminary, 
Day  School, 

Abeih, 

" 

Deir  el  Kom 

Ghorify, 
El  Hadeth, 

Vc 

Shwifat, 

« 

Dibbiyeh, 
B'Hamdfln, 

" 

Meshghara, 

« 

Ain  An6b, 

« 

Kefr  Shima, 
Rasheiya  el 
Fokhar, 

". 

Jedaideh, 

M 

El  Khiyam, 

« 

Ibl,       " 

« 

Deir  Mimas, 

« 

Kana, 

«« 

Hums, 

• 

Safita, 

M 

Hamath, 

" 

No.  OF      No.  OF    WHEN  BE- 

— 

PUPILS.  TBA 

H'RS       GUN 

5° 

1834 

5°              > 

1848 

30 

1863 

6 

1863 

60 

5° 

1853 
1855 

[soon. 
To  be  resumed 

40 

1863 

All  Druzes. 

40 

1870 

70 

1871 

30 

1868 

3° 

1853 

Discontinued. 

3° 
30 
40 

^856 

Boys  and  girls, 
and  60  boys. 
Boys  and  girls. 

3° 

1869 

40 

1870 

35 

1868 

3° 

1868 
1865 

35 

,869 

40 

1865 

3° 

1869 

30 

1872 

Totals 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION.        22/ 

This  gives  a  total  of  twenty-three  girls'  schools 
besides  the  twenty-four  boys'  schools  under  the  care 
of  the  Mission,  and  three  schools  where  there  are  both 
boys  and  girls.  I  have  kept  the  name  of  B'ham- 
dun  in  the  list,  for  its  historical  associations,  but  the 
thirty  pupils  credited  to  it,  will  be  more  than  made 
good  in  the  girl's  school  about  to  be  resumed  in 
Tripoli  under  the  care  of  Miss  Kip. 

The  total  number  of  girls  is  about  800,  and  the 
number  of  teachers  36.  The  total  cost  of  these 
twenty-three  schools,  including  the  two  Seminaries  in 
Beirut  and  Sidon,  is  about  eight  thousand  dollars 
per  annum,  including  rents,  salaries  of  five  American 
and  English  ladies,  and  thirty-one  native  teachers. 

The  average  cost  of  the  common  schools  in  the 
Sidon  field  is  sixty  dollars  per  annum,  and  in  the  Leb- 
anon field  it  varies  from  this  sum  to  about  twice 
that  amount,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Deir  el 
Komr  and  other  schools  are  virtually  High  Schools. 

The  teacher  in  the  Sidon  field,  and  in  Abeih,  and 
Safita,  are  graduates  of  the  Sidon  Seminary. 

It  is  probable  that  a  High  School  or  Seminary 
for  girls  will  be  opened  by  Miss  Kip  in  Tripoli  du- 
ring the  coming  year. 

The  preceding  schedule  can  give  but  a  faint  idea 
of  the  struggles  and  toil,  the  patient  labors,  disap- 
pointments and  trials  of  faith  through  which  the 
women  of  the  American  Mission  have  passed  during 
the  last  forty  years,  in  beginning  and  maintaining  so 
many  of  these  schools  for  girls  in  Syria. 

Did  t  speak  of  trials?     The  Missionary  work  has 


228  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

its  trials,  but  I  believe  that  its  joys  are  far  greater. 
The  saddest  scenes  I  have  witnessed  during  a  resi- 
dence of  seventeen  years  in  Syria,  have  been  when 
Missionaries  have  been  obliged  to  leave  the  work  and 
return  to  their  native  land.  There  are  trials  growing 
out  of  the  hardness  of  the  human  heart,  our  own 
want  of  faith,  the  seeming  slow  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  the  heart-crushing  disappointments  arising 
from  broken  hopes,  when  individuals  and  communi- 
ties who  have  promised  well,  turn  back  to  their  old 
errors  "  like  the  dog  to  his  vomit"  again.  But  of 
joys  it  is  much  easier  to  speak,  the  joy  of  preaching 
Christ  to  the  perishing, — of  laboring  where  others 
will  not  labor, — of  laying  foundations  for  the  future, 
— of  feeling  that  you  are  doing  what  you  can  to  ful- 
fil the  Saviour's  last  command, — of  seeing  the  word  of 
God  translated  into  a  new  language, — a  Christian 
literature  beginning  to  grow, — children  and  youth 
gathered  into  Schools  and  Seminaries  of  learning, 
and  even  sects  which  hate  the  Bible  obliged  to  teach 
their  children  to  read  it, — of  seeing  Christian  families 
growing  up,  loving  the  Sabbath  and  the  Bible,  the 
sanctuary  and  the  family  altar. — Then  there  is  the 
joy  of  seeing  souls  born  into  the  kingdom  of  our 
dear  Redeemer,  and  churches  planted  in  a  land 
where  pure  Christianity  had  ceased  to  exist, — and  of 
witnessing  unflinching  steadfastness  in  the  midst  of 
persecution  and  danger,  and  the  triumphs  of  faith  in 
the  solemn  hour  of  death. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  joys  which  are  strewn  so 
thickly  along  the  path  of  the  Christian   Missionary, 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION. 


229 


that  he  has  hardly  time  to  think  of  sorrow,  trial  and 
discouragement.  Those  who  have  read  Dr.  Ander- 
son's "  History  of  Missions  to  the  Oriental  Church- 
es," and  Rev.  Isaac  Bird's  "  History  of  the  Syria 
Mission,"  or  "  Bible  Work  in  Bible  Lands,''  will  see 
that  the  work  of  the  Syria  Mission  from  1820  to  1872 
has  been  one  of  conflict  with  principalities  and  pow- 
ers, and  with  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  and  low 
placesv  but  that  at  length  the  hoary  fortresses  are  be- 
ginning to  totter  and  fall,  and  there  is  a  call  for  a  gen- 
eral advance  in  every  department  of  the  work,  and  in 
every  part  of  the  land. 

Other  agencies  have  come  upon  the  ground  since 
the  great  foundation  work  was  laid,  and  the  first 
great  victories  won,  and  in  their  success  it  becomes 
all  of  God's  people  to  rejoice  ;  but  the  veterans  who 
fought  the  first  battles,  and  overcame  the  great  na- 
tional prejudice  of  the  Syrian  people  against  female 
education,  should  ever  be  remembered  with  gratitude. 

It  has  been  my  aim  in  this  little  volume  to  re- 
count the  history  of  Woman's  Work  in  the  past. 
Who  can  foretell  what  the  future  of  Christian  work 
for  Syrian  Women  will  be  ? 

May  it  ever  be  a  work  founded  on  the  Word  of 
God,  aiming  at  the  elevation  of  woman  through  the 
doctrines  and  the  practice  of  a  pure  Christianity, 
striving  to  plant  in  Syria,  not  the  flippant  culture  of 
modern  fashionable  society,  but  the  God-fearing, 
Sabbath-loving,  and  Bible-reading  culture  of  our' 
Anglo-Saxon  ancestors ! 

A  few  years  ago,  a  Greek  priest  named  Job,  from 


230 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


one  of  the  distant  villages  high  up  in  the  range  of 
Lebanon,  called  on  me  in  Beirut.  I  had  spent  seve- 
ral summers  in  his  village,  and  he  had  sometimes 
borrowed  our  Arabic  sermons  to  read  in  the  Greek 
Church,  and  now,  he  said,  he  had  come  down  to  see 
what  we  were  doing  in  Beirut.  I  took  him  through  the 
Female  Seminary  and  the  Church,  and  then  to  the 
Library  and  the  Printing  Press.  He  examined  the 
presses,  the  steam  engine,  the  type-setting,  and  type- 
casting, the  folding,  sewing,  and  binding  of  books, 
and  looked  through  the  huge  cases  filled  with  Arabic 
books  and  Scriptures,  saw  all  the  editions  of  the  Bible 
and  the  Testament,  and  then  turned  in  silence  to 
take  his  departure.  I  went  with  him  to  the  outer 
gate.  He  took  my  hand,  and  said,  "  By  your  leave 
I  am  going.  The  Lord  bless  your  work.  Sir,  I  have 
a  thought ;  we  are  all  going  to  be  swept  away,  priests 
and  bishops,  Greeks  and  Maronites,  Moslems  and 
Druzes,  and  there  will  be  nothing  left,  nothing  but 
the  Word  of  God  and  those  who  follow  it.  That  is 
my  thought.  Farewell." 

May  that  thought  be  speedily  realized  !  May  the 
coarseness,  brutality  and  contempt  for  woman  which 
characterize  the  Moslem  hareem,  give  way  to  the 
refinement,  intelligence,  and  mutual  affection  which 
belong  to  the  Christian  family  ! 

May  the  God  of  prophecy  and  promise,  hasten 
the  time  when  Nusairy  barbarism,  Druze  hypocrisy, 
Moslem  fanaticism,  Jewish  bigotry  and  nominal 
Christian  superstition  shall  fade  away  under  the  glo- 
rious beams  of  the  rising  Sun  of  Righteousness  ! 


AMOUNT  OF  BIBLICAL  INSTRUCTION. 


231 


May  the  "  glory  of  Lebanon  "  be  given  to  the 
Lord,  in  the  regeneration  and  sanctification  of  the 
families  of  Lebanon! 

Too  long  has  it  been  true,  in  the  degradation  of 
woman,  that  the  "flower  of  Lebanon  lariguisheth." 

Soon  may  we  say  in  the  truly  Oriental  imagery 
of  the  Song  of  Songs, — "  Come  with  me  from  Leb- 
anon, look  from  the  top  of  Amana,  from  the  top  of 
Shenir  and  Hermon,  from  the  lions'  dens,  from  the 
mountains  of  the  leopards," — and  behold,  in  the 
culture  of  woman,  in  society  regenerated,  in  home 
affection,  in  the  Christian  family,  what  is  in  a  pecu- 
liar sense,  "a  fountain  of  gardens,  a  well  of  living 
waters,  and  streams  from  Lebanon  ! " 

"  Is  it  not  yet  a  very  little  while,  and  Lebanon  shall 
be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field?"  When  "the  re- 
proach of  the  daughters  of  Syria,"  shall  be  taken 
away,  and  when  amid  the  zearas  of  the  Nusairiyeh, 
the  kholwehs  of  the  Druzes,  the  mosques  of  the 
Moslems  and  the  tents  of  the  Bedawin,  may  be 
heard  the  voice  of  Christ,  saying  to  the  poor  women 
of  the  Arab  race,  weary  and  fainting  under  the 
burdens  of  life : 

"  Daughter  be  of  good  comfort, 
"  Thy  faith  ha'th  made  thee  whole, 
"  Go  in  peace  !  " 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


I  . 


Abeih,  Mount  Lebanon,  Sept.,  1872. 
TV/I"  Y  DEAR  SON  WILLIE  :— 

It  is  now  eight  years  since  you  left  Syria,  and 
you  were  then  so  young,  that  you  must  have  forgot- 
ten all  about  the  country  and  the  people.  I  have  of- 
ten promised  to  tell  you  more  about  the  Syrian  boys 
and  girls,  what  they  eat  and  wear,  and  how  they 
study  and  play  and  sleep,  and  the  songs  their  moth- 
ers sing  to  them,  and  many  other  things.  And  now 
I  will  try  and  fulfil  my  promise. 

Here  is  a  little  boy  at  the  door.  His  name  is 
Asaad  Mishrik,  or  "  happy  sunrise,"  and  his  name  is 
well  given,  for  he  comes  every  morning  at  sunrise 
with  a  basket  of  fres.h  ripe  figs,  sweet  and  cold,  and 
covered  with  the  sparkling  dew.  This  morning  when 
he  came,  your  brother  Harry  stood  by  the  door 
looking  at  the  figs  with  wistful  eyes,  and  I  gave  him 
a  large  one,  which  disappeared  very  suddenly. 
Asaad  is  a  bright-eyed  boy,  and  helps  his  mother 
every  day. 


234 


THE   IV OMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


When  he  comes  in,  he  says,  Subah  koom  bil 
khire,  "Your  morning  in  goodness."  Then  Assaf, 
the  cook,  answers  him,  "Yusaid  Subahak,"  "May 
God  make  happy  your  morning."  If  I  come  out 
when  he  is  here,  he  runs  up  to  kiss  my  hand,  as  the 
Arab  children  are  trained  to  be  respectful  to  their 
superiors.  When  a  little  Arab  boy  comes  into  a  room 
full  of  older  people,  he  goes  around  and  kisses  the 
hand  of  each  one  and  then  places  it  on  his  forehead. 
Asaad  wears  a  red  tarboosh  or  cap  on  his  head, 
a  loose  jacket,  and  trowsers  which  are  like  a  blue 
bag  gathered  around  the  waist,  with  two  small  holes 
for  his  feet  to  go  through.  They  are  drawn  up 
nearly  to  his  knees,  and  his  legs  are  bare,  as  he  wears 
no  stockings.  He  wears  red  shoes  pointed  and 
turned  up  at  the  toes.  When  he  comes  in  at  the 
door,  he  leaves  his  shoes  outside,  but  keeps  his  cap 
on  his  head. 

The  people  never  take  off  their  caps  or  turbans 
when  entering  a  house,  or  visiting  a  friend,  but 
always  leave  their  shoes  at  the  door.  The  reason 
is,  that  their  floors  are  covered  with  clean  •  mats 
and  rugs,  and  in  the  Moslem  houses,  the  man 
kneels  on  his  rug  to  pray,  and  presses  his  fore- 
head to  the  floor,  so  that  it  would  not  be  decent  or 
respectful  to  walk  in  with  dirty  shoes  and  soil  his 
sijjady  on  which  he  kneels  to  pray.  They  have  no 
foot-mats  or  scrapers,  and  it  is  much  cheaper  and 
simpler  to  leave  the  shoes,  dirt  and  all  at  the  door. 
Sometimes  we  are  much  embarrassed  in  calling  on 
the  old  style  Syrians  as  they  look  with  horror  on  our 


THE  CHILD  REX'S  CHAPTER. 


235 


muddy  feet,  and  we  find  it  not  quite  so  easy  to 
remove  our  European  shoes.  But  it  must  be  done, 
and  it  is  better  to  take  a  little  extra  trouble,  and 
regard  their  feelings  and  customs,  than  to  appear 
coarse  and  rude. 

It  is  very  curious  to  go  to  the  Syrian  school- 
houses,  and  see  the  piles  of  shoes  at  the  door.  There 
are  new  bright  red  shoes,  and  old  tattered  shoes,  and 
kob  kobs,  and  black  shoes,  and  sometimes  yellow 
shoes.  The  kob  kobs  are  wooden  clogs  made  to 
raise  the  feet  out  of  the  mud  and  water,  having  a 
little  strap  over  the  toe  to  keep  it  on  the  foot.  You 
will  often  see  little  boys  and  girls  running  down 
steps  and  paved  streets  on  these  dangerous  kob 
kobs.  Sometimes  they  slip  and  then  down  they  go 
on  their  noses,  and  the  kob  kobs  fly  off  and  go  rat- 
tling over  the  stones,  and  little  Ali  or  Yusef,  or  what- 
ever his  name  is,  begins  to  shout,  Ya  Imme !  Ya 
Imme!  "  Oh,  my  mother  !  "  and  cries  just  like  little 
children  in  other  countries. 

But  the  funniest  part  of  it  is  to  see  the  boys 
when  they  come  out  of  school  and  try  to  find  their 
shoes.  There  will  be  fifty  boys,  and  of  course  a 
hundred  shoes,  all  mixed  together  in  one  pile. 
When  school  is  out,  the  boys  make  a  rush  for  the 
door.  Then  comes  the  tug  of  war.  A  dozen  boys 
are  standing  and  shuffling  on  the  pile  of  shoes,  look- 
ing down,  kicking  away  the  other  shoes,  running 
their  toes  into  their  own,  stumbling  over  the  kob 
kobs,  and  then  making  a  dash  to  get  out  of  the 
crowd.  Sometimes  shins  will  be  kicked,  and  hair 


236  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

pulled,  and  tarbooshes  thrown  off,  and  a  great 
screaming  and  cursing  follow,  which  will  only  cease 
when  the  Muallim  comes  with  his  "Asa"  or  stick, 
and  quells  the  riot.  That  pile  of  shoes  will  have  to 
answer  for  a  good  many  schoolboy  fights  and  bruised 
noses  and  hard  feelings  in  Syria.  You  would  won- 
der how  they  can  tell  their  own  shoes.  So  do  I. 
And  the  boys  often  wear  off  each  other's  shoes  by 
mistake  or  on  purpose,  and  then  you  will  see  Selim 
running  with  one  shoe  on,  and  one  of  Ibrahim's  in 
his  hand,  shouting  and  cursing  Ibrahim's  father  and 
grandfather,  until  he  gets  back  his  lost  property. 
Sometimes  when  men  leave  their  shoes  outside  the 
door  of  a  house  where  they  are  calling,  some  one 
will  steal  them,  and  then  they  are  in  a  sorry  plight. 
Shoes  are  regarded  as  very  unclean,  and  when  you 
are  talking  in  polite  society,  it  will  never  do  to 
speak  of  them,  without  asking  pardon.  You  would 
say,  "  the  other  day  some  one  stole  my  new  shoes, 
ajellak  Allah,"  i  e.,  May  God  exalt  you  above  such 
a  vile  subject !  You  would  use  the  same  words  if 
you  were  talking  with  a  Moslem,  and  spoke  of  a 
dog,  a  hog,  a  donkey,  a  girl  or  a  woman. 

They  do  not  think  much  of  girls  in  Syria.  The 
most  of  the  people  are  very  sorry  when  a  daugh- 
ter is  born.  They  think  it  is  dreadful,  and  the 
poor  mother  will  cry  as  if  her  heart  would  break 
And  the  neighbors  come  in  and  tell  her  how  sorry 
they  are,  and  condole  with  her,  just  as  if  they 
had  come  to  a  funeral.  In  Kesrawan,  a  district 
of  Mount  Lebanon  near  Beirut,  the  Arab  women 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


237 


have  a  proverb,  "  The  threshold  weeps  forty  days 
when  a  girl  is  born." 

There  is  a  great  change  going  on  now  in  Syria  in 
the  feelings  of  the  people  in  regard  to  girls,  but  in 
the  interior  towns  and  villages  where  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  has  not  shone  as  yet,  and  there  are  no  schools, 
they  have  the  ancient  ideas  about  them  up  to  this 
very  hour. 

I  knew  an  old  Syrian  grandmother  in  Tripoli  who 
would  not  kiss  her  granddaughter  for  six  months 
after  she  was  born,  because  she  was  born  a  girl !  But 
I  know  another  family  in  that  city  of  Tripoli  that  do 
not  treat  girls  in  that  style.  The  father  is  Mr.  An- 
tonius  Yanni,  a  good  Christian  man,  and  a  member 
of  the  Mission  Church.  He  is  American  Vice  Consul, 
and  on  the  top  of  his  house  is  a  tall  flag-staff,  on 
which  floats  the  stars  and  stripes,  on  Fourth  of  July, 
and  the  Sultan's  birthday,  Queen  Victoria's  birthday, 
and  other  great  feast  days.  One  day  when  the 
Tripoli  women  heard  that  "  Sitt  Karimeh,  Yanni's 
wife,  had  another  "  bint^  (girl)  they  came  in  crowds  to 
comfort  her  in  her  great  affliction !  When  Yanni 
heard  of  it,  he  could  not  restrain  himself.  He  loved 
his  older  daughter  Theodora  very  dearly,  and  was 
thankful  to  God  for  another  sweet  baby  girl,  so  he* 
told  the  women  that  he  would  have  none  of  this 
heathenish  mourning  in  his  house.  He  then  shouted 
to  his  janizary  or  Cawass,  a  white  bearded  old  Mos- 
lem named  Amr,  "  Amr,  haul  up  the  Bandaira  el 
Americaniyeh,  (American  flag)  to  show  the  world 
how  glad  I  am  that  I  have  another  daughter.*'  "  On 


238       THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

my  head,  on  my  head,  sir,"  said  Amr,  and  away  he 
went  and  hauled  up  the  stars  and  stripes.  Now  the 
Pasha's  palace  is  not  far  away,  and  soon  the  Turkish 
guards  saw  the  flag,  and  hastened  to  the  Pasha  with 
the  news  that  the  American  Consul  had  some  great 
feast  day,  as  his  flag  was  raised.  The  Pasha,  suppos- 
ing it  to  be  some  important  national  feast  day  of  the 
American  Government  which  he  was  so  stupid  as 
not  to  know  about,  sent  his  Chief  Secretary  at  once 
to  Mr.  Yanni  to  ask  what  feast  it  might  be  ?  Yanni 
received  him  politely  and  ordered  a  narghileh  and 
coffee  and  sherbet,  and  after  saying  "  good-morning," 
and  "may  you  live  forever,"  and  "  God  prolong  your 
days  !  "  over  and  over  and  over  again,  and  wishing 
that  Doulet  America  might  ever  flourish,  the  Secre- 
tary  asked  which  of  ^the  great  American  festivals  he 
was  celebrating  that  day.  Yanni  laughed  and  said, 
"  Effendum,  you  know  how  many  of  the  ignorant  in 
Syria  are  so  foolish  as  to  mourn  and  lament  when 
God  sends  them  a  daughter,  but  I  believe  that  all 
God's  gifts  are  good,  and  that  daughters  are  to  be 
valued  as  much  as  sons,  and  to  rebuke  this  foolish 
notion  among  the  people,  I  put  up  my  flag  as  a  token 
of  joy  and  gratitude."  "  Sebhan  Allah!  you  have 
done  right,  sir,'5  ....  was  the  Secretary's  reply,  and 
away  he  went  to  the  Pasha.  What  the  Pasha  said,  I 
do  not  know,  but  there  was  probably  more  cursing 
than  usual  that  day  in  the  grand  palace  of  Tripoli, 
for  the  Mohammedans  think  the  birth  of  a  daughter 
a  special  judgment  from  God. 

When  a   boy   is  bDrn,  there   is    great   rejoicing. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  239 

Presents  are  sent  fro  him,  and  the  people  call  to  con- 
gratulate the  father,  and  the  whole  house  is  gay  and 
joyous.  After  a  few  days  a  dainty  dish  called 
"  Mughly"  is  made  and  sent  around  as  a  present  to 
all  of  the  relatives.  It  is  made  of  pounded  rice,  and  fla- 
vored with  rich  spices  and  sugar  and  put  into  little 
bowls,  and  almonds  and  other  nuts  sprinkled  over 
the  top.  One  of  these  little  bowls  is  sent  to  each  of 
the  friends.  But  when  a  girl  is  born,  there  is  no  re- 
joicing, no  giving  of  presents,  and  no  making  of  the 
delicious  "  mughly.'' 

Here  come  two  little  girls  bringing  earthen  pots 
of  milk.  They  are  poor  girls,  daughters  of  two  of 
our  neighbors  who  are  fellaheen  or  farmers.  One  has 
no  shoes,  and  neither  have  stockings.  They  wear 
plain  blue  gowns,  made  of  coarse  cotton  cloth,  dyed 
with  indigo,  and  rusty  looking  tarbooshes  on  their 
heads,  and  a  little  piece  of  dirty  white  muslin  thrown 
over  their  heads  as  a  veil  to  cover  their  faces  with, 
when  men  come  in  sight.  One  is  named  Lebeeby  and 
the  other  Lokunda,  which  means  Hotel.  They  behave 
very  we'll  when  they  come  here,  as  they  have  the  fear 
of  the  big  Khowadja  before  their  eyes,  but  when 
they  are  at  home  running  about,  they  often  use  dread- 
ful language.  Little  boys  and  girls  in  Syria  have 
some  awful  oaths  which  they  constantly  use.  I  sup- 
pose the  poor  things  do  not  know  the  meaning  of 
half  the  bad  words  they  use.  One  of  the  most  com- 
mon is  "  Yilan  Abook"  "  curse  your  father !''  It  is  used 
everywhere  and  on  every  side  by  bad  people,  and 
the  children  use  it  constantly  in  their  play.  When 


240  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  little  girls  come  into  our  Schools  and  Seminaries, 
it  is  a  long  time  before  they  will  give  up  "  abook"- 
ing.  One  of  our  friends  in  America  is  educating  a 
nice  little  girl  in  the  Beirut  Seminary,  and  we  asked 
the  teacher  about  her  a  few  days  ago.  The  answer 
was,  "  She  still  lies  and  swears  dreadfully,  but  she 
has  greatly  improved  during  the  past  two  years,  and 
we  are  encouraged  about  her." 

Sometimes  a  boy  will  say  to  another  Yilan  abook, 
"  Curse  your  father,"  and  another  will  answer,  Wa 
jiddak,  "  and  your  grandfather,"  and  then  they  will 
call  back  and  forth  like  cats  and  dogs.  I  saw  a  Mos- 
lem boy  near  my  house  standing  by  the  corner  to 
shield  himself  from  the  stones  another  boy  was 
throwing,  and  shouting  wa  jid,  jid,  jid,  jid,  jidak, 
"and  your  great-great-great-great-grandfather,"  and 
away  went  the  other  boy,  shouting  as  he  ran,  "  and 
your  "  great-great-great-great  gr-e-at,"  and  I  heard 
no  more.  And  then  there  are  a  great  many  very 
naughty  and  vile  words  which  the  children  use, 
which  I  cannot  write,  and  yet  we  hear  them  every 
day.  It  is  very  hard  to  keep  our  children  from  learn- 
ing them,  as  they  talk  Arabic  better  than  we  do,  and 
often  learn  expressions  which  they  do  not  know  the 
meaning  of.  One  of  the  most  common  habits  is 
using  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  The  name  of  God  is 
Allah,  and  "O  God,"  \sYullah.  Then  there  is  Wul- 
laJi  and  Bismillah,  "  In  the  name  of  God,"  Hamdlil- 
la/i,  "  Praise  to  God,"  Itishullah,  "  If  God  will."  The 
most  awful  oaths  are  "Wullah  and  Billah.  The  peo- 
ple use  Yullah  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions.  The 


Moslems  at  Prayer. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  241 

donkey-drivers  and  muleteers  say  Yullah  when  they 
drive  their  animals.  Some  years  ago  a  good  man 
from  America,  who  fears  God  and  would  not  take 
his  name  in  vain  was  travelling  in  the  Holy  Land, 
and  came  on  to  Beirut.  When  he  reached  there, 
some  one  asked  him  if  he  had  learned  any  Arabic 
during  his  journey.  He  said  yes,  he  had  learned 
Bakhshish  for  "  a  present,"  and  Yullah  for  "  go 
ahead."  His  friend  asked  him  if  he  had  used  the 
latter  word  much  on  the  way.  He  said  certainly,  he 
had  used  it  all  the  way.  His  friend  answered,  Pro- 
fessor, you  have  been  swearing  all  the  way  through 
the  Holy  Land.  Of  course  he  did  not  know  it  and 
meant  no  wrong.  But  it  shows  that  such  words  are 
used  so  commonly  in  Syria  that  strangers  do  not 
think  them  bad  language,  and  it  also  shows  that 
travellers  ought  to  be  careful  in  using  the  words  they 
learn  of  muleteers  and  sailors  in  Arab  land. 

In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  little  boys  and 
girls  swear  so  dreadfully  that  you  can  hardly  bear  to 
be  with  them.  Especially  among  the  Nusairiyeh, 
they  think  that  nothing  will  be  believed  unless  they 
add  an  oath.  Dr.  Post  once  rebuked  an  old  Sheikh 
for  using  the  word  "  Wullah  "  so  often,  and  argued 
so  earnestly  about  it  that  the  man  promised  never 
to  use  it  again.  The  old  man  a  moment  after  re- 
peated it.  The  doctor  said,  "  will  you  now  pledge 
me  that  you  will  not  say  'Wullah'  again?  He  re- 
plied, "  Wullah,  I  will." 

Sometimes  a  donkey-driver  will  get  out  of  pa- 
tience with  his  long-eared  beast.  The  donkey  will 
ii 


242  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

w 

lie  down  with  his  load  in  a  deep  mud-hole,  or  among 
the  sharp  rocks.  For  a  time  the  man  will  kick  and 
strike  him  and  throw  stones  at  him,  and  finally  when 
nothing  else  succeeds  he  will  stand  back,  with  his 
eyes  glaring  and  his  fist  raised  in  the  air,  and  scream 
out,  "  May  Allah  curse  the  beard  of  your  grand- 
father !  "  I  believe  that  the  donkey  always  gets  up 
after  that, — that  is,  if  the  muleteer  first  takes  off  his 
load  and  then  helps  him,  by  pulling  stoutly  at  his  tail. 
I  told  you  that  one  of  the  girls  who  bring  us  milk, 
is  named  "  Lokunda"  or  Hotel.  She  is  a  small  speci- 
men of  a  hotel,  but  provides  us  purer  and  sweetfer  cow's 
milk  than  many  a  six-storied  hotel  on  Broadway 
would  do.  You  will  say  that  is  a  queer  name  for  a 
girl,  but  if  you  stop  and  think  about  many  of  our  Eng- 
lish names  you  would  think  them  queer  too.  Here  in 
Syria,  we  have  the  house  of  Wolf,  the  house  of 
"  Stuffed  Cabbage,"  Khowadji  Leopard,  the  lady 
"Wolves,"  and  one  of  our  fellow  villagers  in  Abeih 
where  we  spend  the  summer  is  Eman  ed  Deen  "  faith- 
of-religion,v  although  he  has  neither  faith  nor  re- 
ligion. 

Among  the  boys'  names  are  Selim,  Ibrahim, 
Moosa,  Yakob,  Ishoc,  Mustafa,  Hanna,  Yusef,  Ali, 
Saieed,  Assaf,  Giurgius,  Faoor,  and  Abbas.  I  once 
met  a  boy  at  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon,  who  was  named 
Jidry,  or  "  Small-Pox,"  because  that  disease  was  rag- 
ing in  the  village  when  he  was  born.  It  is  very  com- 
mon to  name  babies  from  what  is  happening  in  the 
world  when  they  are  born.  A  friend  of  mine  in 
Tripoli  had  a  daughter  born  when  an  American  ship 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


243 


was  in  the  harbor,  so  he  called  her  America.  When 
another  daughter  was  born  there  was  a  Russian  ship 
in  port,  so  he  called  her  Russia.  There  is  a  young 
woman  in  Suk  el  Ghurb  named  Fetneh  or  Civil  War, 
and  her  sister  is  Hada,  or  Peace.  An  old  lady  lately 
died  in  Beirut  named  Feiniis  or  Lantern.  In  the 
Beirut  school  are  and  have  been  girls  named  Pearl, 
Diamond,  Morning  Dawn,  Dew,  Rose,  Only  one,  and 
Mary  -Flea.  That  girl  America's  full  name  was 
America  Wolves,  a  curious  name  for  a  Syrian  lamb  ! 

Sometimes  children  are  named,  and  if  after  a  few 
years  they  are  sick,  the  parents  change  their  names 
and  give  them  new  ones,  thinking  that  the  first  name 
did  not  agree  with  them.  A  Druze  told  me  that  he 
named  his  son  in  infancy  Asaad  (or  happier)  but  he 
\vas  sickly,  so  they  changed  his  name  to  Ahmei 
(Praised)  and  after  that  he  grew  better !  He  has  now 
become  a  Christian,  and  has  resumed  his  first  name 
Asaad. 

I  once  visited  a  man  in  the  village  of  Brummana 
who  had  six  daughters,  whom  he  named  Sun,  Morn- 
ing, Zephyr  breeze,  Jewelry,  Agate,  and  Emerald. 
I  know  girls  named  Star,  Beauty,  Sugar,  One  Eyed, 
and  Christian  Barbarian.  Some  of  the  names  are 
beautiful,  as  Leila,  Zarifeh,  Lulu,  Selma, .  Luciya, 
Miriam  and  Fereedy. 

All  of  the  men  are  called  Aboo-somebody;  i.e. 
the  father  of  somebody  or  something.  Old  Sheikh 
Hussein,  whose  house  I  am  living  in,  is  called  Abco 
Abbas,  i.e.  the  father  of  Abbas,  because  his  eldest 
son's  name  is  Abbas.  A  young  lad  in  the  village, 


244  THE   WOMEN'  OF  THE  ARABS. 

who  is  just  about  entering  the  Freshman  class  in  the 
Beirut  College,  has  been  for  years  called  Aboo 
Habeeb,  or  the  father  of  Habeeb,  when  he  has  no 
children  at  all.  Elias,  the  deacon  of  the  church  in 
Beirut  was  called  Aboo  Nasif  for  more  than  fifty 
years,  and  finally  in  his  old  age  he  married  and  had 
a  son,  whom  he  named  Nasif,  so  that  he  got  his 
name  right  after  all.  They  often  give  young  men 
such  names,  and  if  they  have  no  children  they  call 
them  by  the  name  of  the  son  they  might  have  had. 
But  they  will  not  call  a  man  Aboo  Lulu  or  Aboo 
Leila.  If  a  man  has- a  dozen  daughters  he  will 
never  be  called  from  them.  They  are  "  nothing  but 
girls.''  A  queer  old  man  in  Ghurzuz  once  tried  to 
name  himself  from  his  daughter  Seleemeh,  but  when- 
ever any  one  called  him  Aboo  Seleemeh,  all  the 
fellaheen  would  laugh  as  if  they  would  explode,  and 
the  boys  would  shout  at  him  "  there  goes  old  Aboo 
Seleemeh,"  as  if  it  were  a  grand  joke. 

The  Moslems  and  Druzes  generally  give  their 
children  the  old  unmixed  Arabic  names,  but  the 
Maronites,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Protestants  often  use 
European  names.  A  young  lady  named  Miss  Mason 
,  was  once  a  teacher  in  the  Sidon  Seminary,  and  spent 
the  summer  in  the  mountain  village  of  Deir  Mimas. 
One  of  the  women  of  the  village  liked  her  name,  and 
named  her  daughter  "  Miss  Mason,"  and  if  you 
should  go  there  you  would  hear  the  little  urchins  of 
Deir  -Mimas  shouting  Miss  Mason !  to  a  little  blue- 
gowned  and  tarbooshed  Arab  girl. 

What  noise  is  that  we  hear  down  in  the  village, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  24$ 

under  the  great  jowz  (walnut)  trees  by  the  fountain? 
It  rolls  and  gurgles  and  growls  and  bellows  enough 
to  frighten  a  whole  village  full  of  children.  But  the 
little  Arab  boys  and  girls  are  playing  around,  and  the 
women  are  filling  their  jars  at  the  fountain  just  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  But  it  is  a  frightful  noise 
for  all  that.  It  is  the  bellowing  of  the  camels  as 
their  heavy  loads  are  being  put  on.  They  are  kneel- 
ing on  the  ground,  with  their  long  necks  swaying 
and  stretching  around  like  boa  constrictors.  These 
camels  are  very  useful  animals,  but  I  always  like  to 
see  them  at  a  distance,  especially  in  the  month  of 
February,  for  at  that  time  they  get  to  be  as  "  mad  as 
a  March  hare."  They  are  what  the  Arabs  call  "  taish," 
and  often  bite  men  severely.  In  Hums  one  bit  the 
whole  top  of  a  man's  head  off,  and  in  Tripoli  another 
bit  a  man's  hand  off.  I  once  saw  a  camel  "  taish  " 
in  Beirut,  and  he  was  driving  the  whole  town  before 
him.  Wherever  he  came,  with  his  tongue  hanging 
down  and  a  foaming  froth  pouring  from  his  mouth  as 
he  growled  and  bellowed  through  the  streets,  the 
people  would  leave  their  shops  and  stools  and  run  in 
dismay.  It  was  a  frightful  sight.  I  was  riding  down 
town,  and  on  seeing  the  crowd,  and  the  .camel  com- 
ing towards  me,  I  put  spurs  to  my  horse  and  rode 
home. 

When  camels  are  tied  together  in  a  long  caravan 
with  a  little  mouse-colored  donkey  leading  the 
van,  ridden  by  a  long-legged  Bedawy,  who  sits  half- 
asleep  smoking  his  pipe,  you  would  think  them  the 
tamest  and  most  innocent  creatures  in  the  world,  but 


346  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

when  they  fall  into  a  panic,  they  are  beyond  all  con- 
trol. A  few  years  ago  a  drove  of  camels  was  passing 
through  the  city  of  Damascus.  The  Arabs  drive 
camels  like  sheep,  hundreds  and  sometimes  thousands 
in  a  flock,  and  they  look  awkward  enough.  When 
this  drove  entered  the  city,  something  frightened 
them,  and  they  began  to  run.  Just  imagine  a  camel 
running  !  What  a  sight  it  must  have  been!  Hun- 
dreds of  them  went  through  the  narrow  streets, 
knocking  over  men  and  women  and  donkeys,  up- 
setting the  shopkeepers,  and  spilling  out  their  wares 
on  the  ground,  and  many  persons  were  badly  bruised. 
At  length  a  carpenter  saw  them  coming  and  put  a 
timber  across  the  street,  which  dammed  up  the  in- 
furiated tide  of  camels,  and  they  dashed  against  one 
another  unfil  they  were  all  wedged  together,  and 
thus  their  owners  secured  them. 

In  August,  1862,  a  famous  Bedawin  Chief,  named 
Mohammed  ed  Dukhy,  in  Houran,  east  of  the  Jordan, 
rebelled  against  the  Turkish  Government.  The 
Druzes  joined  him,  and  the  Turks  sent  a  small  army 
against  them.  Mohammed  had  in  his  camp  several 
thousand  of  the  finest  Arabian  camels,  and  they 
were  placed  in  a  row  behind  his  thousands  of  Arab 
and  Druze  horsemen.  Behind  the  camels  were  the 
women,  children,  sheep,  cattle  and  goats.  When  the 
Turkish  army  first  opened  fire  with  musketry,  the 
camels  made  little  disturbance,  as  they  were  used  to 
hearing  small  arms,  but  when  the  Turkish  Colonel 
gave  orders  to  fire  with  cannon,  "  the  ships  of  the 
desert  "  began  to  tremble.  The  artillery  thundered, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  247 

and  the  poor  camels  could  stand  it  no  longer.  They 
were  driven  quite  crazy  with  fright,  and  fled  over 
the  country  in  every  direction  in  more  than  a  Bull  Run 
panic.  Some  went  down  towards  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
others  towards  the  swamps  of  Merom,  and  hundreds 
towards  Banias,  the  ancient  Caesarea  Philippi,  and 
onwards  to  the  West  as  far  as  Deir  Mimas.  Nothing 
could  stop  them.  Their  tongues  were  projecting, 
their  eyes  glaring,  and  on  they  went.  The  fellaheen 
along  the  roads  caught  them  as  they  could,  and  sold 
them  to  their  neighbors.  Fine  camels  worth  eighty 
dollars,  were  sold  for  four  or  five  dollars  a  head,  and 
in  some  villages  the  fat  animals  were  butchered  and 
sold  for  beef.  Some  of  them  came  to  *Deir  Mimas, 
where  two  of  the  missionaries  lived.  The  Protestants 
said  to  the  missionaries,  "  here  are  noble  camels  sell- 
ing for  five  and  ten  dollars,  shall  we  buy  ?  Others  are 
buying."  "  By  no  means,"  they  told  them.  "  They 
are  stolen  or  strayed  property,  and  you  will  repent  it 
if  you  touch  them."  Others  bought  and  feasted  on 
camel  steaks,  and  camel  soup,  and  camel  kibby, 
but  the  Protestants  would  not  touch  them.  In 
a  day  or  two,  the  cavalry  of  the  Turks  came  scour- 
ing the  country  for  the  camels,  as  they  were  the 
spoils  of  war.  Then  the  poor  fellaheen  were  sorry 
enough  that  they  had  bought  and  eaten  the  camels, 
for  the  Turks  made  them  pay  back  double  the  price 
of  the  beasts,  and  the  Protestants  found  that 
"  honesty  was  the  best  policy." 

The  camel  is  very  sure  footed,  but  cannot  travel 
on  muddy  and  slippery  roads.     The  Arabs  say  "  the 


248  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

camel  never  falls,  but  if  he  falls,  he  never  gets  up 
again."  They  carry  long  timbers  over  Lebanon,  on 
the  steep  and  rocky  roads,  the  timber  being  balanced 
on  the  pack  saddle,  one  end  extending  out  on  front, 
and  the  other  behind.  Sometimes  the  timber  begins 
to  swing  about,  and  down  the  camel  goes  over  the 
precipice  and  is  dashed  to  pieces. 

The  Arabs  say  that  a  man  once  asked  a  camel, 
"  What  made  your  neck  so  crooked  ? ''  The  camel 
answered,  "  My  neck  ?  Why  did  you  ask  about  my 
neck?  Is  there  anything  else  straight  about  me, 
that  led  you  to  notice  my  neck  ?  "  This  has  a  mean- 
ing, which  is,  that  when  a  man's  habits  are  all  bad, 
there  is  no  use  in  talking  about  one  of  them. 

Perhaps  you  will  ask,  did  you  ever  eat  camel's 
flesh?  Certainly.  We  do  not  get  it  in  Beirut,  as 
camels  are  too  expensive  along  the  sea-coast  to  be 
used  as  food,  but  in  the  interior  towns,  like  Hums 
and  Hamath,  which  border  on  the  desert  or  rather 
the  great  plains  occupied  by  the  ten  thousands  of 
the  Bedawin,  camel's  meat  is  a  common  article  in 
the  market.  They  butcher  fat  camels,  and  young 
camel  colts  that  have  broken  their  legs,  and  some- 
times their  meat  is  as  delicious  as  beef  steak.  But 
when  they  kill  an  old  lean  worn-out  camel,  that  has 
been  besmeared  with  pitch  and  tar  for  many  years, 
and  has  been  journeying  under  heavy  loads  from 
Aleppo  to  Damascus  until  he  is  what  the  Arabs  call 
a  "  basket  of  bones,"  and  then  kill  him  to  save  his 
life,  or  rather  his  beef,  the  meat  is  not  very  delicate. 

The  Arab  name  for  a  camel  is  "  Jemel"  which 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


249 


means  beauty  !  They  call  him  so  perhaps  because 
there  is  no  beauty  in  him.  You  will  read  in  books, 
that  the  camel  is  the  "  ship  of  the  desert."  He  is 
very  much  like  a  ship,  as  he  carries  a  heavy  cargo 
over  the  ocean-like  plains  and  "  buraries"  or  wilds- 
of  the  Syrian  and  Arabian  deserts.  He  is  also  like 
a  ship  in  making  people  sea-sick  who  ride  on  his  back, 
and  because  he  has  a  strong  odor  of  tar  and  pitch  like 
the  hold  of  a  ship,  which  sometim.es  you  can  perceive 
at  a  long  distance. 


PART    II. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  take  a  ride  with  me 
some  day,  and  visit  some  of  the  missionary  stations 
in  Syria.  What  will  you  ride  ?  The  horses  are  gen- 
tle, but  you  would -feel  safer  on  a  donkey.  Mules 
are  sometimes  good  for  riding,  but  I  prefer  to  let 
them  alone.  I  never  rode  a  mule  but  once.  I  was 
at  Hasbeiya,  and  wished  to  visit  the  bitumen  wells. 
My  horse  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  ridden,  so  I 
took  Monsur's  mule.  It  had  only  a  jillal  or  pack 
saddle,  and  Monsur  made  stirrups  of  rope  for  me. 
My  companions  had  gone  on  in  advance,  and  when  I 
started,  the  mule  was  eager  to  overtake  them.  All 
went  well  until  we  approached  the  little  stream  which 
afterwards  becomes  the  River  Jordan.  The  ground 
was  descending,  and  the  road  covered  with  loose 
stones.  The  rest  of  our  party  were  crossing  the 
stream  and  the  mule  thought  he  would  trot  and 


250  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

come  up  with  them.  I  tried  to  hold  him  in  with 
the  rope  halter,  but  he  shook  his  head  and  dashed 
on.  About  the  middle  of  the  descent  he  stum- 
bled and  fell  flat  upon  his  nose.  I  went  over  his 
head  upon  my  hands,  but  my  feet  were  fast  in  the 
rope  stirrups.  Seeing  that  he  was  trying  to  get  up, 
I  tried  to  work  myself  back  into  the  saddle,  but  I 
had  only  reached  his  head,  when  he  sprang  up. 
I  was  now  in  a  curious  and  not  very  safe  situation. 
The  mule  was  trotting  on  and  I  was  sitting  on  his 
head  holding  on  to  his  ears,  with  my  feet  fast  in  the 
rope  stirrups.  A  little  Arab  boy  was  passing  with  a 
tray  of  bread  upon  his  head  and  I  shouted  to  him  for 
help.  He  was  so  amused  to  see  a  Khowadja  with  a 
hat,  riding  at  that  rate  on  a  mule's  head,  that  he  be- 
gan to  roar  with  laughter  and  down  went  his  tray  on 
the  ground  and  the  Arab  bread  went  rolling  among 
the  stones.  It  was  a  great  mercy  that  I  did  not  fall 
under  the  brute's  feet,  but  I  held  on  until  he  got  the 
other  side  of  the  Jordan,  when  a  man  ran  out  from 
the  mill  and  stopped  him.  Monsur  now  led  him  by 
the  halter  and  I  reached  the  bitumen  wells  in  safety. 
You  can  mount  your  donkey  and  Harry  will  ride 
another,  and  I  will  ride  my  horse,  and  we  will  try  a 
Syrian  journey.  As  we  cannot  spare  the  time  to  go 
from  Beirut  to  Tripoli  by  land,  I  have  sent  Ibrahim 
to  take  the  animals  along  the  shore,  and  we  will  go 
up  by  the  French  steamer,  a  fine  large  vessel  called 
the  "  Ganges."  We  go  down  to  the  Kumruk  or 
Custom  House,  and  there  a  little  Arab  boat  takes  us 
out  to  the  steamer.  In  rough  weather  it  is  very  dan- 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  251 

gerous  going  out  to  the  steamers,  and  sometimes  lit- 
tle boats  are  capsized,  but  to-night  there  is  no  danger. 
You  are  now  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer.  What  a 
charming  view  of  Beirut  and  Mount  Lebanon.  Far 
out  on  the  point  of  the  cape  are  the  new  buildings  of 
the  Syrian  College,  and  next  is  the  Prussian  Hospital 
and  then  the  Protestant  Prussian  Deaconesses  Institu- 
tion with  130  orphans  and  80  paying  pupils.  There  is 
the  house  of  Dr.  Thomson  and  Dr.  Van  Dyck 
and  Dr.  Post,  and  the  Turkish  Barracks,  and  Mrs. 
Mott's  school,  and  our  beautiful  Church,  with  its 
clock  tower,  and  you  can  hear  the  clock  strike  six. 
Then  next  to  the  Church  is  the  Female  Seminary 
with  its  100  pupils,  and  the  Steam  Printing  Press, 
where  are  printed  so  many  books  and  Scriptures 
every  year  in  the  Arabic  language.  Those  tall  cy- 
press trees  are  in  the  Mission  Cemetery  where  Pliny 
Fisk,  and  Eli  Smith,  and  Mr.  Whiting,  and  a  good 
many  little  children  are  buried.  Near  by  are  the 
houses  of  Dr.  Bliss  and  Dr.  Lewis  and  our  house, 
and  you  can  see  mosques  and  minarets  and  domes 
and  red-tiled  roofs,  and  beautiful  arched  corridors 
and  green  trees  in  every  direction.  Do  you  see  the 
beautiful  purple  tints  on  the  Lebanon  Mountains  as 
the  sun  goes  down  ?  Is  it  not  worth  a  long  journey 
to  see  that  lofty  peak  gilded  and  tinted  with  purple 
and  pink  and  yellow  as  the  sun  sinks  into  the  sea? 

What  a  noise  these  boatmen  make !  I  doubt 
whether  you  have  ever  heard  such  a  screaming  be- 
fore. 

Now  you  can  imagine  yourself  going  to  sleep  in 


252  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

the  state-room  of  this  great  steamer,  and  away  we 
go.  The  anchor  comes  up  clank,  clank,  as  the  great 
chain  cable  is  wound  up  by  the  donkey  engine,  and 
now  we  move  off  silently  and  smoothly.  In  about 
five  hours  we  have  made  the  fifty  miles,  and  down 
goes  the  anchor  again  in  Tripoli  harbor.  At  sunrise 
the  Tripoli  boatmen  come  around  the  steamer.  We 
are  two  miles  off  from  the  shore  and  a  rough  north 
wind  is  blowing.  Let  us  hurry  up  and  get  ashore 
before  the  wind  increases  to  a  gale,  as  these  North 
winds  are  very  fierce  on  the  Syrian  coast.  Here 
comes  Mustafa,  an  old  boatman,  and  begs  us  to  take 
his  feluca.  We  look  over  the  side  of  the  steamer 
and  see  that  his  boat  is  large  and  clean  and  agree  to 
take  it  for  twelve  piastres  or  fifty  cents  for  all  of  us 
and  our  baggage.  Then  the  other  boatmen  rush  up 
and  scream  and  curse  and  try  to  get  us  to  take  their 
boats,  but  we  say  nothing  and  push  through  them 
and  climb  down  the  steps  to  the  boat.  The  white 
caps  are  rolling  and  the  boat  dances  finely.  Mustafa 
puts  up  a  large  three-cornered  sail,  Ali  sits  at  the 
rudder,  and  with  a  stroke  or  two  of  the  oars  we  turn 
around  into  the  wind  and  away  we  dash  towards  the 
shore.  The  Meena  (port)  is  before  us,  that  white 
row  of  houses  on  the  point  ;  and  back  among  the 
gardens  is  the  city  of  Tripoli.  In  less  than  half  an 
hour  we  reach  the -shore,  but  the  surf  is  so  high  that 
we  cannot  go  near  the  pier,  so  they  make  for  the 
sand  beach,  and  before  we  reach  it,  the  boat  strikes 
on  a  little  bar  and  we  stop.  Out  jump  the  boatmen, 
and  porters  come  running  half  naked  from  the  shore 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  2$3 

and  each  shouts  to  us  to  ride  ashore  on  his  shoulders, 
They  can  carry  you  and  Harry  with  ease,  but  I  am 
always  careful  how  I  sit  on  the  shoulders  of  these 
rough  fellows.  There  is  Ibrahim  on  the  shore  with 
our  animals,  and  two  mules  for  the  baggage.  We 
shall  take  beds  and  bedsteads  and  cooking  appara- 
tus and  provisions  and  a  tent.  Ibrahim  has  bought 
bread  and  potatoes  and  rice  and  semin  (Arab  butter) 
aud  smead  (farina)  and  candles,  and  a  little  sugar  and 
salt,  and  other  necessaries.  We  will  accept  Aunt 
Annie's  invitation  to  breakfast,  arid  then  everything 
will  be  ready  for  a  start. 

What  is  the  matter  with  those  boys  in  that  dark 
room  ?  Are  they  on  rockers  ?  They  keep  swinging 
back  and  forth  and  screaming  at  the  top  of  their 
voices  all  at  once,  and  an  old  blind  man  sits  on  one 
side  holding  a  long  stick.  They  all  sit  on  the  floor 
and  hold  books  or  tin  cards  in  their  hands.  This  is 
a  Moslem  school,  and  the  boys  are  learning  to  read 
and  write.  They  all  study  aloud,  and  the  old  b/ind 
Sheikh  knows  their  voices  so  well  that  when  one 
stops  studying,  he  perceives  it,  and  reaches  his  long 
stick  over  that  way  until  the  boy  begins  again.  When 
a  boy  comes  up  to  him  to  recite,  he  has  to  shout 
louder  than  the  rest,  so  that  the  Sheikh  can  distin- 
guish his  voice.  There,  two  boys  are  fighting.  The 
Sheikh  cannot  and  will  not  have  fighting  in  his 
school,  and  he  calls  them  up  to  him.  They  begin  to 
scream  and  kick  and  call  for  their  mothers,  but  it  is 
of  no  use.  Sheikh  Mohammed  will  have  order.  Lie 
down  there  you  Mahmoud !  Mahmoud  lies  down, 


254 


THE   WOMEN  OF    THE  ARABS. 


and  the  Sheikh  takes  a  stick  like  a  bow  with  a  cord 
to  it,  and  winds  the  cord  around  his  ankles.  After 
twisting  the  cord  as  tight  as  possible,  he  takes  his 
rod  and  beats  Mahmoud  on  the  soles  of  his  feet,  un- 
til the  poor  boy  is  almost  black  in  the  face  with 
screaming  and  pain.  Then  he  serves  Saleh  in  the 
same  way.  This  is  the  bastinado  of  which  you  have 
heard  and  read.  When  the  Missionaries  started 
common  schools  in  Syria,  the  teachers  used  the 
bastinado  without  their  knowledge,  though  we  never 
allow  anything  of  the  kind.  But  the  boys  behave  so 
badly  and  use  such  bad  language  to  each  other,  that 
the  teacher's  patience  is  often  quite  exhausted.  I 
heard  of  one  school  where  the  teacher  invited  a  visit- 
or to  hear  the  boys  recite,  and  then  offered  to  whip 
the  school  all  around  from  the  biggest  boy  to  the 
smallest,  in  order  to  show  how  well  he  governed  the 
school !  They  do  not  use  the  alphabet  in  the  Mos- 
lem schools.  The  boys  begin  with  the  Koran  and 
.learn  the  words  by  sight,  without  knowing  the  letters 
of  which  they  are  composed. 

Here  come  two  young  men  to  meet  us.  Fine 
lads  they  are  too.  One  is  named  Giurgius,  and  the 
other  Leopold.  When  they  were  small  boys,  they 
once  amused  me  very  much.  Mr.  Yanni,  who  drew 
up  his  flag  on  the  birth  of  Barbara,  sent  Giurgius 
his  son,  and  Leopold  his  nephew  to  the  school  of  an 
old  man  named  Hanna  Tooma.  This  old  man  al- 
ways slept  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  boys  did  not 
study  very  well  when  he  was  asleep.  I  was  once  at 
Yanni's  house  when  the  boys  came  home  from  school. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


255 


They  were  in  high  glee.  One  of  them  said  to  his 
father,  our  teacher  slept  all  the  afternoon,  and  we 
appointed  a  committee  of  boys  to  fan  him  and  keep 
the  flies  off  while  the  rest  went  down  into  the  court 
to  play,  and  when  he  moved  we  all  hushed  up  until 
he  was  sound  asleep  again.  But  when  he  did  wake 
up,  he  took  the  big  "  Asa"  and  struck  out  right  and 
left,  and  gave  every  boy  in  the  school  a  flogging. 
The  father  asked,  but  why  did  he  flog  them  all  ? 
Because  he  said  he  knew  some  of  us  had  done  wrong, 
and  he  was  determined  to  hit  the  right  one,  so  he 
flogged  us  all! 

See  the  piles  of  fruit  in  the  streets !  Grapes  and 
figs,  watermelons  and  pomegranates,  peaches,  pears, 
lemons  and  bananas.  At  other  seasons  of  the  year 
you  have  oranges,  sweet  lemons,  plums,  and  apricots. 
There  is  fresh  fruit  on  the  trees  here  every  week  in 
the  year.  Now  we  are  passing  a  lemonade  stand, 
where  iced  lemonade  is  sold  for  a  cent  a  glass,  cooled 
with  snow  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Lebanon  9000 
feet  high.  Grapes  are  about  a  cent  a  pound  and 
figs  the  same,  and  in  March  you  can  buy  five  or- 
anges or  ten  sweet  lemons  for  a  cent.  Huge  wa- 
termelons are  about  eight  or  ten  cents  a  piece.  We 
buy  so  many  pounds  of  milk  and  oil  and  potatoes 
and  charcoal.  The  prickly  pear,  or  subire,  is  a 
delicious  fruit,  although  covered  with  shanp  barbed 
spines  and  thorns.  It  is  full  of  hard  large  woody 
seeds,  but  the  people  are  very  fond  of  the  fruit. 
Sheikh  Nasif  el  Yazijy  was  a  famous  Arab  poet  and 
scholar,  and  a  young  man  once  brought  him  a  poem 


256      '  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

to  be  corrected.  He  told  him  to  call  in  a  few  days 
and  get  it.  He  came  again  and  the  Sheikh  said  to 
him.  "Your  poem  is  like  the  Missionary's  prickly 
pear!"  "  The  Missionary's  prickly  pear?"  said  the 
young  poet.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  "  Why  said  the 

Sheikh."  Dr. a  missionary,  when  he  first  came 

to  Syria,  had  a  dish  of  prickly  pears  set  before  him 
to  eat.  Not  liking  to  eat  the  seeds,  he  began  to 
pick  them  out,  and  when  he  had  picked  out  all  the 
seeds,  there  was  nothing  left !  So  your  poem.  You 
asked  me  to  remove  the  errors,  and  I  found  that 
when  I  had  taken  out  all  the  errors,  there  was  noth- 
ing left." 

It  is  about  time  for  us  to  start.  We  will  ride 
through  the  orange  gardens  and  see  the  rich  fruit 
bending  the  trees  almost  down  to  the  ground. 
Steer  your  way  carefully  through  the  crowd  of  mules, 
pack  horses,  camels  and  asses  loaded  with  boxes  of 
fruit  hastening  down  to  the  Meena  for  the  steamer 
which  goes  North  to-night. 

Here  is  Yanni,  with  his  happy  smiling  face  com- 
ing out  to  meet  us.  We  will  dismount  and  greet  him. 
He  will  kiss  us  on  both  cheeks  and  insist  on  our  call- 
ing at  his  house.  The  children  are  glad  to  see  you, 
and  the  Sitt  Karimeh  asks,  how  are  "  the  preserved 
of  God  ?  "  that  is,  the  children.  Then  the  little  tots 
come  up^o  kiss  my  hand,  and  Im  Antonius,  the  old 
grandmother,  comes  and  greets  us  most  kindly.  It 
was  not  always  so.  She  was  once  very  hostile  to 
the  Missionaries.  She  thought  that  her  son  had 
done  a  dreadful  deed  when  he  became  a  Protestant: 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  257 

Although  she  once  loved  him,  she  hated  him  and 
hated  us.  She  used  to  fast,  and  make  vows,  and 
pray  to  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  and  beat  her 
breast  in  agony  over  her  son.  She  had  a  brother 
and  another  son,  who  were  like  her,  and  they  all 
persecuted  Yanni.  But  he  bore  it  patiently  without 
an  unkind  word  in  return  for  all  their  abuse.  At 
length  the  brother  Ishoc  was  taken  ill.  Im  Anto- 
nius  brought  the  pictures  and  put  them  over  his 
head  and  called  the  priests.  He  said,  "  Mother,  take 
away  these  idols.  Send  away  these  priests.  Tell 
my  brother  Antonius  to  come  here,  I  want  to  ask 
his  forgiveness."  Yanni  came.  Ishoc  said  to  him, 
"  Brother,  your  kindness  and  patience  have  broken 
me  down.  You  are  right  and  I  am  wrong.  I  am 
going  to  die.  Will  you  forgive  me?"  "Yes,  and 
may  God  forgive  and  bless  you  too."  "  Then  bring 
your  Bible  and  read  to  me.  Read  about  some  great 
sinner' who  was  saved."  Yanni  read  about  the  dying 
thief  on  the  cross.  "  Read  it  again  !  Ah,  that  is  my 
case  !  I  am  the  chief  of  sinners."  .  Every  day  he  kept 
Yanni  reading  and  praying  with  him.  He  loved  to 
talk  about  Jesus  and  at  length  died  trusting  in  the 
Saviour !  The  uncle  Michaiel,  was  also  taken  ill,  and 
on  his  death-bed  would  have  neither  priest  nor  pic- 
tures, and  declared  to  all  the  people  that  he  trusted 
only  in  the  Saviour  whom  Yanni  had  loved  and 
served  so  well.  After  that  Im- Antonius  was  soften- 
ed and  now  she  loves  to  hear  Yanni  read  the  Bible 
and  pray. 

The  servant  is  coming  with  sherbet  and  sweet- 


258  TH.E   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

meats  and  Arabic  coffee  in  little  cups  as  large  as  an 
egg-shell.  Did  you  notice  how  the  marble  floors 
shine  !  They  are  scrubbed  and  polished,  and  kept 
clean  by  the  industrious  women  whom  you  see  so 
gorgeously  dressed  now.  These  good  ladies  belong 
to  the  Akabir,  or  aristocracy  of  Tripoli,  but  they 
work  most  faithfully  in  their  housekeeping  duties. 
But  alas,  they  can  neither  read  nor  write !  And 
there  is  hardly  a  woman  in  this  whole  city  of  16,000 
people  that  can  read  or  write  !  I  once  attended  a 
company  of  invited  guests  at  one  of  the  wealthy 
houses  in  Tripoli,  and  there  were  thirty  Tripolitan 
ladies  in  the  large  room,  dressed  in  the  most  elegant 
style.  I  think  you  never  saw  such  magnificence. 
They  were  dressed  in  silks  and  satins  and  velvets, 
embroidered  with  gold  thread  and  pearls,  and  their 
arms  and  necks  were  loaded  with  gold  bracelets  and 
necklaces  set  with  precious  stones,  and  on  their  heads 
were  wreaths  of  gold  and  silver  work  sparkling  with 
diamonds,  and  fragrant  with  fresh  orange  blossoms 
and  jessamine.  Many  of  them  were  beautiful.  But 
not  one  of  them  could  read.  The  little  boys  and 
girls  too  are  dressed  in  the  same  rich  style  among  the 
wealthier  classes,  and  they  are  now  beginning  to  learn. 
Many  of  the  little  girls  who  were  taught  in  Sada's 
school  here  thirteen  years  ago,  are  now  heads  of  fam- 
ilies, and  know  how  to  read  the  gospel. 

Ibrahim  comes  in  to  say  that  we  must  hurry  off 
if  we  would  reach  Halba  to  sleep  to-night.  So  we 
bid  Yanni's  family  good-bye.  We  tell  them  "  Be 
Khaterkum."  "  By  your  pleasure,''  and  they  say 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  359 

"  Ma  es  Salameh  "  "  with  peace." — Then  they  say, 
"  God  smooth  your  way,"  and  we  answer,  "  Peace 
to  your  lives.''  Saieed  the  muleteer  now  says  "  Dih, 
Ooah,"  to  his  mules,  and  away  we  ride  over  the  stony 
pavements  and  under  the  dark  arches  of  the  city,  to- 
wards the  East.  We  cross  the  bridge  over  the  River 
Kadisha,  go  through  the  wheat  and  barley  market, 
and  out  of  the  gate  Tibbaneh,  among  the  Moslems, 
Maronites,  Bedawin,  Nusairiyeh,  Gypsies,  and  Greeks, 
who  are  buying  and  selling  among  the  Hamath  and 
Hums  caravans. 

Do  you  see  those  boys  playing  by  the  stone  wall  ? 
They  are  catching  scorpions.  They  put  a  little  wax 
on  a  stick  and  thrust  it  into  the  holes  in  the  wall, 
and  the  scorpions  run  their  claws  into  the  wax  when 
they  are  easily  drawn  out,  and  the  boys  like  to  play 
with  them.  The  sting  of  the  scorpion  is  not  deadly, 
but  it  is  very  painful,  something  like  being  stung  by 
half  a  dozen  hornets. 

Here  come  a  company  of  Greek,  priests,  with 
the  Greek  bishop  of  Akkar.  The  priests  are  all  Syr- 
ians but  the  bishop  is  from  Greece,  and  knows  but 
little  Arabic.  The  priests  are  very  ignorant,  for  they 
are  generally  chosen  from  among  the  lowest  of  the 
people. 

When  the  former  Greek  Bishop  died  in  Tripoli, 
in  1858,  his  dead  body  was  dressed  in  cloth  of  gold, 
with  a  golden  crown  on  his  head,  and  then  the  corpse 
was  set  up  in  a  chair  in  the  midst  of  the  Greek 
Church,  with  the  face  and  hands  uncovered  so  that 
all  the  people  could  see  him.  The  fingers  were  all 


260  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

black  and  bloated,  but  the  men,  women  and  children 
crowded  up  to  kiss  them.  When  the  body  was  tak- 
en from  the  city  to  Deir  Keftin,  three  miles  distant, 
the  Greek  mountaineers  came  down  in  a  rabble  to 
get  the  blessing  from  the  corpse.  And  how  do  you 
think  they  got  the  blessing?  They  attacked  the 
bearers  and  knocked  off  pieces  of  the  coffin,  and  then 
carried  off  the  pall  and  tore  it  in  pieces,  fighting  for 
it  like -hungry  wolves.  A  number  of  people  were 
wounded.  After  the  burial  they  dug  up  the  earth 
for  some  distance  around  the  tomb,  and  carried  it  off 
to  be  used  as  medicine.  A  little  girl  brought  a  piece 
of  the  bishop's  handkerchief  to  my  house,  hearing 
that  some  one  was  ill,  saying  that  if  we  would  burn 
it  and  drink  the  ashes  in  water,  we  would  be  instant- 
ly cured. 

The  Syrians  have  a  good  many  stories  about  their 
priests,  which  they  laugh  about,  and  yet  they  obey 
them,  no  matter  how  ignorant  they  are.  Abu  Selim 
in  the  Meena  "used  to  tell  me  this  story :  Once 
there  was  a  priest  who  did  not  know  how  to  count. 
This  was  a  great  trial  to  him,  as  the  Greeks  have  so 
many  fasts  and  feasts  that  it  is  necessary  to  count 
all  the  time  or  get  into  trouble.  They  have  a  long 
fast  called  Soum  el  kebir,  and  it  is  sometimes  nearly 
sixty  days  long.  One  year  the  fast  commenced,  and 
the  priest  had  blundered  so  often  that  he  went  to 
the  bishop  and  asked  him  to  teach  him  some  way 
to  count  the  days  to  the  Easter  feast.  The  bishop 
told  him  it  would  be  forty  days,  and  gave  him  forty 
kernels  of  "  hummus,"  or  peas,  telling  him  to  put 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  261 

them  into  his  pocket  and  throw  one  out  every  day, 
and  when  they  were  all  gone,  to  proclaim  the  feast ! 
This  was  a  happy  plan  for  the  poor  priest,  and  he 
went  on  faithfully  throwing  away  one  pea  every  day, 
until  one  day  he  went  to  a  neighboring  village.  In 
crossing  the  stream  he  fell  from  his  donkey  into  the 
mud,  and  his  black  robe  was  grievously  soiled.  The 
good  woman  of  the  house  where  he  slept,  told  him 
to  take  off  his  robe  and  she  would  clean  it  in  the 
night.  So  after  he  was  asleep  she  arose  and  washed 
it  clean,  but  found  to  her  sorrow  that  she  had  de- 
stroyed the  peas  in  the  priest's  pocket.  Poor  priest, 
said  she,  he  has  lost  all  his  peas  which  he  had  for 
lunch  on  the  road !  But  I  will  make  it  up  to  him. 
So  she  went  to  her  earthen  jar  and  took  a  big  double 
handful  of  hummus  and  put  them  into  the  priest's 
pocket,  and  said  no  more.  He  went  on  his  way  and 
threw  out  a  pea  every  morning  for  weeks  and  weeks. 
At  length,  some  of  his  fellaheen  heard  that  the  feast 
had  begun  in  another  village,  and  told  the  Priest. 
Impossible,  said  he.  My  pocket  is  half  full  yet. 
Others  came  and  said,  will  you  keep  us  fasting  all  the 
year?  He  only  replied,  look  into  my  pocket.  Are 
you  wiser  than  the  Bishop  ?  At  length  some  one 
went  and  told  the  Bishop  that  the  priest  was  keep- 
ing his  people  fasting  for  twenty  days  after  the  time. 
'And  then  the  story  leaked  out,  and  the  poor  woman 
told  how  she  had  filled  up  the  pocket,  and  the  bishop 
saw  that  there  was  no  use  in  trying  to  teach  the  man 
to  count. 

See  the  reapers  in  the  field,  and  the  women  glean- 


262  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

ing  after  them,  just  as  Ruth  did  so  many  thousand 
years  ago  !  On  this  side  is  a  "  lodge  in  a  garden  of 
cucumbers." 

Now  we  come  down  upon  the  sea-shore  again, 
and  on  our  right  is  the  great  plain  of  Akkar,  level  as 
a  floor,  and  "covered  with  fields  of  Indian  corn  and 
cotton.  Flocks  and  herds  and  Arab  camps  of  black 
tents  are  scattered  over  it.  Here  is  a  shepherd-boy 
playing  on  his  "  zimmara "  or  pipe,  made  of  two 
reeds  tied  together  and  perforated.  He  plays  on  it 
hour  after  hour  and  day  after  day,  as  he  leads  his 
sheep  and  goats  or  cattle  along  the  plain  or  over  the 
mountains.  You  do  not  like  it  much,  any  more  than 
he  would  like  a  melodeon  or  a  piano.  When  King 
David  was  a  shepherd-boy  he  played  on  such  a  pipe 
as  this  as  he  wandered  over  the  mountains  of  Judea. 

Now  we  turn  away  from  the  sea  and  go. eastward 
to  Halba.  Before  long  we  cross  the  river  Arka  on  a 
narrow  stone  bridge,  and  pass  a  high  hill  called  "  Tel 
Arka."  Here  the  Arkites  lived,  who  are  mentioned 
in  Genesis  x:  17.  That  was  four  thousand  two 
hundred  years  ago.  What  a  chain  of  villages  skirt 
this  plain  !  The  people  build  their  villages  on  the 
hills  for  protection  and  health,  but  go  down  to 
plough  and  sow  and  feed  their  flocks  to  the  rich 
level  plain.  Now  we  cross  a  little  stream  of 
water,  and  look  up  the  ravine,  and  there  is  Ishoc's 
house  perched  on  the  side  of  the  hill  opposite  Halba. 
Ishoc  and  his  wife  Im  Hanna,  come  out  to  meet  us, 
and  he  helps  us  pitch  the  tent  by  the  great  fig  tree 
near  his  house.  We  unroll  the  tent,  splice  the  tent- 


THE  CHJLDREN'S  CHAPTER.  263 

pole,  open  the  bag  of  tent  pins,  get  the  mallet,  and 
although  the  wind  is  blowing  hard,  we  will  drive  the 
pegs  so  deep  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of  its  blow- 
ing over. 

Abu  Hanna,  or  Ishoc,  is  a  noble  Christian  man, 
one  of  the  best  men  in  Syria.  He  has  suffered  very 
much  for  Christ's  sake.  The  Greeks  in  the  village 
on  the  hill  have  tried  to  poison  him.  They  hired 
Nusairy  Mughlajees  to  shoot  him.  They  cut  down 
his  trees  at  night,  and  pulled  up  his  plantations  of 
vegetables.  They  came  at  rtight  and  tore  up  the 
roof  of  his  house,  and  shot  through  at  him  but  did 
not  hit  him.  But  the  Mohammedan  Begs  over  there 
always  help  him,  because  he  is  an  honest  man,  and 
aids  them  in  their  business  and  accounts.  When  the 
Greeks  began  to  persecute  him,  they  told  him  to 
fire  a  gun  whenever  they  came  about  his  house,  and 
they  would  come  over  and  fight  for  him.  They  even 
offered  to  go  up  and  burn  the  Greek  village  and  put 
an  end  to  these  persecutions.  But  Ishoc  would  not 
let  them.  He  said,  "  Mohammed  Beg,  you  know  I 
am  a  Christian,  not  like  these  Greeks  who  lie  and 
steal  and  kill,  but  I  follow  the  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  said,  '  Love  your  enemies,'  and  I 
do  not  wish  to  injure  one  of  them."  The  Begs 
were  astonished  at  this,  and  went  away,  urging 
him  if  there  were  any  more  trouble  at  night  to  fire 
his  gun  and  they  would  come  over  from  Halba  at 
once. 

I  love  this  good  man  Ishoc.  His  pure  life,  his 
patience  and  gentleness  have  preached  to  these  wild 


264  THE' WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

people  in  Akkar,  more  than  all  the  sermons  of  the 
missionaries. 

Would  you  like  to  see  Im  Hanna  make  bread  for 
our  supper?  That  hole  in  the  ground,  lined  with 
plaster,  is  the  oven,  and  the  flames  are  pouring  out, 
They  heat  it  with  thorns  and  thistles.  She  sits  by 
the  oven  with  a  flat  stone  at  her  side,  patting  the 
lumps  of  dough  into  thin  cakes  like  wafers  as  large 
as  the  brim  of  your  straw  hat.  Now  the  fire  is  burn- 
ing out  and  the  coals  are  left  at  the  bottom  of  the 
oven,  as  if  they  were  in  the  bottom  of  a  barrel.  She 
takes  one  thin  wafer  on  her  hand  and  sticks  it  on 
the  smooth  side  of  the  oven,  and  as  it  bakes  it  curls 
up,  but  before  it  drops  off  into  the  coals,  she  pulls  it 
out  quickly  and  puts  another  in  its  place.  How 
sweet  and  fresh  the  bread  is !  It  is  made  of  Indian 
corn.  She  calls  it  "  khubs  dura."  Abu  Hanna  says 
that  we  must  eat  supper  with  them  to-night.  They 
are  plain  fellaheen,  and  have  neither  tables,  chairs, 
knives  nor  forks.  They  have  a  few  wooden  spoons, 
and  a  few  plates.  But  hungry  travellers  and  warm- 
hearted friendship  will  make  the  plainest  food  sweet 
and  pleasant. 

Supper  is  ready  now,  and  we  will  go  around  to 
Abu  Hanna's  house  for  he  has  come  to  tell  us  that 
"  all  things  are  ready."  The  house  is  one  low  room, 
about  sixteen  by  twenty  feet.  The  ceiling  you  see 
is  of  logs  smoked  black  and  shining  as  if  they  had 
been  varnished.  Above  the  logs  are  flat  stones  and 
thorns,  on  which  earth  is  piled  a  foot  deep.  In  the 
winter  this  earth  is  rolled  down  with  a  heavy  stone 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER 


265 


roller  to  keep  out  the  rain.  In  many  of  the  houses 
the  family,  cattle,  sheep,  calves  and  horses  sleep  in 
the  same  room.  The  family  sleep  in  the  elevated 
part  of  the  room  along  the  edge  of  which  is  a  trough 
into  which  they  put  the  barley  for  the  animals.  This 
is  the  "  medhwad "  or  manger,  such  as  the  infant 
Jesus  was  laid  in.  We  will  now  accept  Im  Hanna's 
kind  invitation  to  supper.  The  plates. are  all  on  a 
small  tray  on  a  mat  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  and 
there  are  four  piles  of  bread  around  the  edge. 
There  is  one  cup  of  water  for  us  all  to  drink  from, 
and  each  one  has  a  wooden  spoon.  But  Abu  Hanna, 
you  will  see,  prefers  to  eat  without  a  spoon.  After 
the  blessing  is  asked  in  Arabic,  Abu  Hanna  says, 
<J  tefudduloo,"  which  means  help  yourselves.  Here 
is  kibby,  and  camel  stew,  and  Esau's  pottage,  and 
olives,  and  rice,  and  figs  cooked  in  dibbs,  and  chicken 
boiled  to  pieces,  and  white  fresh  cheese,  and  curdled 
milk,  and  fried  eggs. 

Kibby  is  the  Arab  plum  pudding  and  mince  pie 
and  roast  beef  all  in  one.  It  is  made  by  pounding 
meat  in  a  mortar  with  wheat,  until  both  are  mixed 
into  a  soft  pulp  and  then  dressed  with  nuts  and 
onions  and  butter,  and  baked  or  roasted  in  cakes 
over  the  fire.  Dr.  Thomson  thinks  that  this  dish  is 
alluded  to  in  Prov.  27  :  22,  "  Though  thou  shouldest 
bray  a  fool  in  a  mortar  among  wheat  with  a  pestle, 
yet  will  not  his  foolishness  depart  from  him."  That 
is,  put  the  fool  into  Im  Hanna's  stone  mortar  with 
wheat  and  pound  him  into  kibby,  and  he  would  still 


266  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

remain  a  fool !     It  takes  something  besides  pound, 
ing  to  get  the  folly  out  of  foolish  men. 

You  see  there  are  no  separate  plates  for  us.  We 
all  help  ourselves  from  the  various  dishes  as  we  pre- 
fer. Abu  Hanna  wants  you  to  try  the  "  mejeddara," 
made  of  "  oddis."  It  is  like  thick  pea  soup,  but 
with  a  peculiar  flavor.  This  is  what  Jacob  made  the 
pottage  of,  when  he  tempted  Esau  and  bought  his 
birthright.  I  hope  you  will  like  it,  but  I  do  not. 
After  seventeen  years  of  trying,  I  am  not  able  to 
enjoy  it,  but  Harry  will  eat  all  he  can  ge^t,  and  the 
little  Arab  children  revel  in  it.  You  make  poor 
work  with  that  huge  wooden  spoon.  You  had  bet- 
ter try  Abu  Hanna's  way  of  eating.  Many  better 
men  than  any  of  us  have  eaten  in  that  way,  and  I 
suppose  our  Saviour  and  his  disciples  ate  as  Abu 
Hanna  eats.  He  tears  off  a  small  piece  of  the  thin 
wafer-like  bread,  doubles  it  into  a  kind  of  three  cor- 
nered spoon,  dips  it  into  the  rice,  or  picks  up  a  piece 
of  kibby  with  it,  and  then  eats  it  down,  spoon  and 
all !  Im  Hanna  says  I  am  afraid  those  little  boys  do 
not  like  our  food,  so  she  makes  a  spoon  and  dips  up 
a  nice  morsel  of  the  chicken,  and  comes  to  you  and 
says  "  minshan  khatri,"  for  my  sake,  eat  this,  and 
you  open  your  mouth  and  she  puts  it  in.  That  is 
the  way  our  Saviour  dipped  the  "  sop"  and  put  it 
into  the  mouth  of  Judas  Iscariot  to  show  the  disci- 
ples which  one  it  was.  Giving  the  sop  was  a  com- 
mon act,  and  I  have  no  doubt  Jesus  had  often  given 
it  to  John  and  Peter  and  the  other  disciples,  as  a 
kindly  act,  when  they  were  eating  together. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  267 

Im  Hanna  is  fixing  the  lamp.  It  is  a  little  earth- 
en saucer  having  a  lip  on  one  side,  with  the  wick 
hanging  over.  The  wick  just  began  to  smoke  and  she 
poured  in  more  olive  oil,  and  it  burns  brightly  again.. 
Do  you  remember  what  the  prophet  Isaiah  (42 :  3) 
said,  "  a  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  smoking 
flax  shall  he  not  quench."  This  is  quoted  in  Matt. 
12  of  our  Lord  Jesus.  The  word  flax  means  wick. 
It  is  "  fetileh"  in  Arabic,  and  this  is  just  what  Im 
Hanna  has  been  doing.  She  saw  the  wick  smoking 
and  flickering,  and  instead  of  blowing  it  out  and 
quenching  it,  she  brought  the  oil  flask,  and  gently 
poured  in  the  clear  olive  oil  and  you  saw  how  quickly 
the  flame  revived.  So  our  Lord  would  have  us  learn 
from  Him.  When  the  flame  of  our  faith  and  love 
is  almost  dead  and  nothing  remains  but  the  smoking 
flickering  wick,  He  does  not  quench  it,  and  deal 
harshly  with  us,  but  he  comes  in  all  gentleness  and 
love  and  pours  in  the  oil  of  His  grace,  and  then  our 
faith  revives  and  we  live  again. 


PART    III. 

Here  come  some  little  Bedawin  gypsy  children. 
One  is  laughing  at  my  hat.  He  never  saw  one  before 
and  he  calls  me  "  Abu  Suttle,"  the  "  father  of  a 
Pail,"  and  wonders  why  I  carry  a  pail  on  my  head. 
The  people  love  to  use  the  word  Abu,  [father]  or  Im, 
[mother].  They  call  a  musquito  Abu  Fas,  the  father 
of  an  axe.  The  centipede  is  "  Im  Arba  wa  Arb-ain,'' 


268  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

"  The  mother  of  forty-four  legs.''  The  Arabic  poet 
Hariri  calls  a  table  the  "  father  of  assembling  ;"  bread, 
the  "  father  of  pleasantness  ;  a  pie,  "  the  mother  of 
joyfulness,"  salt,  the  father  of  help,"  soap  the  "  father 
of  softness ;"  Death  is  called  by  the  Arab  poets, 
"  Father  of  the  Living/'  because  all  the  living  are 
subject  to  him. 

After  breakfast  we  will  start  for  Safita.  You  see 
that  snow-white  dome  on  the  hill-top !  and  another 
on  the  next  hill  under  that  huge  oak  tree,  and  then 
another  and  another.  These  are  called  Nebi  or  Zia- 
rat  or  Wely.  Each  one  contains  one  or  more  tombs 
of  Nusairy  saints  or  sheikhs,  and  the  poor  women  vis- 
it them  and  burn  lamps  and  make  vows  to  the  saints 
who  they  think  live  in  them.  They  know  nothing 
of  Christ,  and  when  they  feel  sad  and  troubled  and 
want  comfort  they  enter  the  little  room  under  the 
white  dome,  and  there  they  call,  "  O  Jafar  et  Tiyyar 
hear  me !  O  Sheikh  Hassan  hear  me !" 

This  is  just  as  the  old  Canaanite  women  used  to 
go  up  and  worship  on  every  high  hill,  and  under 
every  green  tree,  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  these 
poor  Nusairiyeh  are  thought  to  be  the  descendants 
of  the  old  Canaanites. 

Here  come  men  on  horseback  to  visit  that  "  ziya- 
ra."  Up  they  go  to  the  little  room  with  the  white 
dome,  and  all  dismount.  The  old  sheikh  who  has 
charge,  comes  out  to  meet  them.  They  are  pilgrims 
and  have  to  make  vows  and  bring  offerings.  One 
had  a  sick  son  and  he  once  vowed  that  if  his  son  got 
well  he  would  bring  a  sheep  and  a  bushel  of  wheat  as 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER  269 

an  offering  to  this  shrine.  So  there  is  the  sheep  on 
one  of  the  horses,  and  that  mule  is  bringing  the 
wheat.  If  the  old  sheikh  has  many  such  visitors  he 
will  grow  rich.  Some  of  them  do.  And  yet  the 
people  laugh  at  these  holy  places,  and  tell  some 
strange  stories  about  them.  One  of  the  stories  is  as 
follows  : — 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  great  Sheikh  AH, 
a  holy  man,  who  kept  a  holy  tomb  of  an  ancient 
prophet.  The  tomb  was  on  a  hill  under  a  big  oak 
tree,  and  the  white  dome  could  be  seen  for  miles 
around.  Lamps  were  kept  burning  day  and  night  in 
the  tomb,  and  if  any  one  extinguished  them,  they 
were  miraculously  lighted  again.  Men  with  sore 
eyes  came  to  visit  it  and  were  cured.  The  earth 
around  the  tomb  was  carried  off  to  be  used  as  medi- 
cine. Women  came  and  tied  old  rags  on  the  limbs  of 
the  tree,  as  vows  to  the  wonderful  prophet.  Nobody 
knew  the  name  of  the  prophet,  but  the  tomb  was 
called  "  Kobr  en  Nebi,"  or  "  tomb  of  the  prophet."  • 
A  green  cloth  was  spread  over  the  tomb  under  the 
dome,  and  incense  was  sold  by  the  sheikh  to  those 
who  wished  to  heal  their  sick,  or  drive  out  evil  spir- 
its from  their  houses.  Pilgrims  came  from  afar  to 
visit  the  holy  place,  and  its  fame  extended  over  all 
the  land.  Sheikh  Ali  was  becoming  a  rich  man, 
and  all  the  pilgrims  kissed  his  hand  and  begged  his 
blessing.  Now  Sheikh  Ali  had  a  faithful  servant 
named  Mohammed,  who  had  served  him  long  and 
well.  But  Mohammed  was  weary  of  living  in  one 
place,  and  asked  permission  to  go  and  seek  his  for- 


270  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

tune  in  distant  parts.  So  Sheikh  Ali  gave  him  his 
blessing  and  presented  him  with  a  donkey,  which  he 
h'ad  for  many  years,  that  he  might  ride  when  tired  of 
walking.  Then  Mohammed  set  out  on  his  journey. 
He  went  through  cities  and  towns  and  villages,  and 
at  last  came  out  on  the  mountains  east  of  the  Jor- 
dan in  a  desert  place.  No  village  or  house  was  in  sight 
and  night  came  on.  Tired,  hungy  and  discouraged 
poor  Mohammed  lay  down  by  his  donkey  on  a  great 
pile  of  stones  and  fell  asleep.  Tn  the  morning  he 
awoke,  and  alas  his  donkey  was  dead.  He  was  in 
despair,  but  his  kindly  nature  would  not  let  the 
poor  brute  lie  there  to  be  devoured  by  jackals  and 
vultures,  so  he  piled  a  mound  of  stones  over  its  body 
and  sat  down  to  weep. 

While  he  was  weeping,  a  wealthy  Hajji  or  pilgrim 
came  along,  on  his  return  from  Mecca.  He  was  sur- 
prised to  see  a  man  alone  in  this  wilderness,  and  ask- 
ed him  why  he  was  weeping  ?  Mohammed  replied, 
O  Hajji,  I  have  found  the  tomb  of  a  holy  prophet, 
and  I  have  vowed  to  be  its  keeper,  but  I  am  in  great 
need.  The  Hajji  thanked  him  for  the  news,  and  dis- 
mounted to  visit  the  holy  place,  and  gave  Moham- 
med a  rich  present.  After  he  had  gone  Mohammed 
hastened  to  the  nearest  village  and  bought  provisions 
and  then  returned  to  his  holy  prophet's  tomb.  The 
Hajji  spread  the  news,  and  pilgrms  thronged  to. the 
spot  with  rich  presents  and  offerings.  As  money 
came  in  Mohammed  brought  masons  and  built  a 
costly  tomb  with  a  tall  white  dome  that  could  be 
seen  across  the  Jordan.  He  lived  in  a  little  room 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


271 


by  the  tomb,  and  soon  the  miraculous  lights  began 
to  appear  in  the  tomb  at  night,  which  Mohammed 
had  kindled  when  no  one  was  near.  He  increased 
in  fame  and  wealth,  and  the  Prophet's  tomb  became 
one  of  the  great  shrines  of  the  land. 

At  length  Sheikh  Ali  heard  of  the  fame  of  the 
new  holy  place  in  the  desert,  and  as  his  own  visitors 
began  to  fall  off,  decided  to  go  himself  and  gain  the 
merit  of  a  visit  to  the  tomb  of  that  famous  prophet. 
When  he  arrived  there  with  his  rich  presents  of 
green  cloth,  incense  and  money,  he  bowed  in  silence 
to  pray  towards  Mecca,  when  suddenly  he  recog- 
nized in  the  holy  keeper  of  the  tomb,  his  old  servant 
Mohammed.  "  Salam  alaykoom  "  said  Sheikh  Ali. 
"  Alaykoom  es  Salam,"  replied  Mohammed.  When 
he  asked  him  how  he  came  here,  and  how  he  found 
this  tomb,  Mohammed  replied,  this  "  tomb  is  a  great 
"  sirr ''  or  mystery,  and  I  am  forbidden  to  utter  the 
secret."  "  But  you  must  tell  me,"  said  Sheikh  "  Ali,  for 
I  am  a  father  to  you."  Mohammed  refused  and  Ali  in- 
sisted, until  at  length  Mohammed  said,  "  my  honored 
Sheikh,  you  remember  having  given  me  a  donkey. 
It  was  a  faithful  donkey,  and  when  it  died  I  buried 
it.  This  is  the  tomb  of  that  donkey  !  "  "  Mashallah  ! 
Mashallah  !  "  said  Sheikh  Ali.  The  will  of  Allah  be 
done  !  Then  they  ate  and  drank  together,  and  renew- 
ed the  memory  of  their  former  life,  and  then  Sheikh 
Mohammed  said  to  Sheikh  Ali,  "  My  master,  as  I 
have  told  you  the  '  sirr '  of  my  prophet's  tomb,  I  wish 
to  know  the  secret  of  yours.3'  "  Impossible,"  said 
Ali,  "  for  that  is  one  of  the  ancient  mysteries,  too 


2/2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

sacred  to  be  mentioned  by  mortal  lips."  "But  you 
must  tell  me,  even  as  I  have  told  you.''  At  length 
the  old  Sheikh  Ali  stroked  his  snowy  beard,  adjusted 
his  white  turban,  and  whispered  to  Mohammed, 
"  and  my  holy  place  is  the  tomb  of  that  donkey  s 
fattier  !  "  "  Mashallah,"  said  Mohammed,  "  may 
Allah  bless  the  beard  of  the  holy  donkeys!  " 

The  people  tell  this  story,  which  shows,  that  they 
ridicule  and  despise  their  holy  places,  and  yet  are  too 
superstitious  to  give  them  up.  The  great  thing  with 
the  sheiks  who  keep  them  is  the  piastres  they  make 
from  the  visitors. 

As  we  go  up  the  hill  to  Safita,  you  see  the  tall, 
beautiful  Burj,  or  Crusader's  tower,  built  as  were 
many  of  the  castles  and  towers  whose  ruins  you  see 
on  the  hills  about  here,  by  the  French  and  English 
eight  hundred  years  ago,  to  keep  down  the  wild  and 
rebellious  people.  The  Protestant  Church  is  at  the 
east.  These  are  two  watch  towers.  One  was  built 
for  warriors  who  fought  with  sword  and  spear,  and 
the  other  for  the  simple  warfare  of  the  gospel.  You 
may  depend  upon  it,  we  shall  have  a  welcome  here. 
It  is  nearly  sunset,  and  the  people  are  coming  in 
from  their  fields  and  pastures  and  vineyards.  Daud 
and  Nicola,  and  Michaiel,  Soleyman,  Ibrahim,  and 
Yusef,  Miriam,  Raheel  and  Nejmy.  and  crowds  of 
others  with  a  throng  of  little  ragged  boys  and  girls, 
come  running  to  greet  us.  "  Praise  God  we  have 
seen  you  in  peace  ! "  "  Ehelan  wa  Sehelan,"  "  Wel- 
come and  Welcome  !  "  "  Be  preferred  ! "  "  Honor 
us  with  your  presence  ! "  "  How  is  your  state  ?  " 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  2/3 

Inshallah  you  are  all  well ! "  "  How  are  those  you 
left  behind?"  How  are  the  preserved  of  God?" 
"  I  hope  you  are  not  wearied  with  the  long  ride,  this 
hot  day  ? "  "  From  whence  have  you  come,  in 
peace  ?  "  "  What  happy  day  is  this  to  Santa  !  "  and 
we  answer  as  fast  as  we  can,  and  dismount  and  pitch 
the  tent  in  front  of  the  church  door,Jn  the  little 
plot  of  ground  next  to  the  houses  of  some  of  the 
brethren.  The  church  is  built  of  cream  colored 
limestone,  the  same  color  as  the  great  Burj,  and 
contrasts  strongly  with  the  houses  of  the  people. 
Did  you  ever  see  such  houses  ?  They  are  hardly 
high  enough  to  stand  up  in,  and  are  built  of  round- 
ish boulders  of  black  trap-rock,  without  lime,  and 
look  as  if  the  least  jar  would  tumble  them  all  down. 
Each  house  has  but  one  room,  and  here  the  cattle, 
goats  and  donkeys  all  sleep  in  the  same  room.  The 
people  are  poorer  than  any  fellaheen  (peasants)  you 
ever  saw.  There  is  not  a  chair  or  table  in  the  vil- 
lage, unless  the  Beshoor  family  have  them.  They 
are  the  only  wealthy  people  here,  and  in  years  past 
they  have  oppressed  the  Protestants  in  the  most 
cruel  manner.  Beshoor  had  a  lawsuit  with  the  peo- 
ple about  the  land  of  the  village.  It  belonged  to 
them,  and  he  wanted  it.  So  he  brought  Govern- 
ment horsemen  and  drove  them  off  their  lands  and 
took  the  crops  himself.  They  thought  they  would 
try  a  new  way  to  get  justice.  The  Government 
officials  were  all  bribed,  so  there  was  no  hope  there. 
So  they  decided  to  turn  Protestants  and  get  aid  in 
that  way.  They  did  not  know  what  the  Protestant 


274       THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

religion  was,  but  had  some  idea  that  it  would  help 
them.  Down  they  went  to  Tripoli  to  the  mission- 
aries with  a  list  of  three  hundred  persons  who  want- 
ed to  become  Angliz  or  Protestants.  The  people 
sometimes  call  us  Angliz,  or  English,  others  call  us 
"  Boostrant"  or  "  Brostant,"  but  the  common  name 
is  "  Injiliyeeji"  or  people  of  the  Enjeel,  or  Evangel, 
that  is,  the  Evangelicals. 

Dr.  Post  and  your  Uncle  Samuel  came  up  to  Safita 
to  look  into  the  matter.  They  found  the  people  grossly 
ignorant  and  living  like  cattle,  calling  themselves  Pro- 
testants and  knowing  nothing  of  the  gospel.  So  they 
sent  a  teacher  and  began  to  teach  them.  When  the 
people  found  that  the  missionaries  did  not  come  to  dis- 
tribute money,  some  of  them  went  back  to  the  Greeks. 
But  others  said  no ;  this  new  religion  is  more  than  we 
expected.  The  more  we  hear,  the  more  we  like  it. 
We  shall  live  and  die  Protestants.  Then  Beit  Be- 
shoor  became  alarmed.  They  said,  if  this  people  get 
a  school,  have  a  teacher,  and  read  the  Bible,  we  can- 
not oppress  them.  They  must  be  kept  down  in  igno- 
rance. So  they  began  in  earnest.  The  Protestants 
were  arrested  and  dragged  off  to  Duraikish  to  prison. 
Women  and  children  were  beaten.  Brutal  horsemen 
were  quartered  on  their  houses.  That  means,  that  a 
rough  fellow,  armed  with  pistols  and  a  sword  came 
to  the  house  of  Abu  Asaad,  and  stayed  two  weeks. 
He  made  them  cook  chickens,  and  bring  eggs  and 
bread  and  everything  he  wanted  every  day,  and 
bring  barley  for  his  horse.  The  poor  man  had  no 
barley  and  had  to  buy,  and  the  Greeks  would  make 


275 

him  pay  double  price  for  it.  When  he  could  get  no 
more  he  was  beaten  and  his  wife  insulted,  and  so  it 
was  in  almost  every  Protestant  house.  They  began 
to  love  the  Gospel,  and  the  men  who  knew  how  to 
read,  would  meet  to  read  and  pray  together.  One 
evening,  all  the  Protestants  met  together  in  one  of 
the  houses.  Their  sufferings  were  very  great.  Their 
winter  stores  had  been  plundered,  their  olives  gather- 
ed by  Beit  Bcshoor,  and  they  talked  and  prayed  over 
their  trouble.  It  was  a  dark,  cold,  rainy  night,  and 
the  wind  blew  a  gale.  While  they  were  talking 
together,  a  man  came  rushing  in  crying,  run  for  your 
lives !  the  horsemen  are  here !  Before  they  could 
get  out,  a  squad  of  wild  looking  wretches  were  at  the 
door.  The  men  fled,  carrying  the  larger  children 
and  the  women  carrying  the  babies,  and  off  they  went 
into  the  wilderness  in  the  storm  and  darkness. 
Some  women  were  seized  and  tied  by  ropes  around 
their  waists,  to  the  horsemen,  and  marched  off  for 
miles  to  prison.  The  men  who  were  caught  were 
put  in  chains.  Some  time  later  they  got  back  home 
again.  But  they  would  not  give  up  the  Gospel. 
Beshoor  sent  men  who  told  them  they  could  have 
peace  if  they  would  only  go  back  to  the  Greek 
Church.  But  he  offered  peace  quite  too  late.  They 
had  now  learned  to  love  the  Gospel,  and  it  was  worth 
more  to  them  than  all  tlie  world  beside.  One  night 
they  were  assembled  in  a  little  low  black  house,  when 
some  men  came  to  the  door  and  threw  in  burning 
bundles  of  straw  and  then  shut  the  door,  so  that 
they  were  almost'  stifled  with  the  smoke.  They 


276  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

sent  a  messenger  to  Beirut.  The  case  was  laid  before 
the  Pasha,  and  he  telegraphed  to  have  the  Protest- 
ants let  alone.  But  Beshoor  cared  for  nothing.  A 
Nusairy  was  hired  to  shoot  Abu  Asaad,  the  leading 
Protestant.  His  house  was  visited  in  the  daytime, 
and  the  man  saw  where  Abu  Asaad's  bed  was  pla- 
ced. In  the  night  he  c$me  stealthily  upon  the  roof, 
dug  a  hole  through,  and  fired  three  bullets  at  the 
spot.  But  see  how  God  protects  his  people  !  That 
evening  Abu  Asaad  said  to  his  wife  ;  the  floor  is 
getting  damp  in  the  corner,  let  us  remove  the  bed 
and  mat  to  the  other  side.  They  did  so,  and  when 
the  man  fired,  the  bullets  went  into  the  ground 
just  where  Abu  Asaad  had  slept  the  night  before ! 
He  ran  out  and  saw  the  assassins  and  recognized 
one  of  them  as  the  servant  of  Beshoor's  son.  The 
next  day  he  complained  to  the  Government  and  they 
refused  to  hear  him  because  he  did  not  bring  wit- 
nesses! 

But  the  poor  people  would  not  give  up.  Every 
day  they  went  to  their  fields,  carrying  their  Testa- 
ments in  their  girdles  and  at  noontime  would  read 
and  find  comfort.  Their  children  were  half  naked 
and  half  starved.  When  word  reached  Beirut,  the 
native  Protestant  womea  met  together  and  collected 
several  hundred  piastres  (a  piastre  is  four  cents)  for 
the  women  and  girls  of  Safita.  They  made  up  a 
bale  of  clothing,  and  sent  with  it  a  very  touching 
and  kind  letter,  telling  their  poor  persecuted  sisters 
to  bear  their  trials  in  patience,  and  put  all  their  trust 
in  the  Lord  Jesus.  That  aid,  together  with  the  con- 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


277 


tributions  made  by  the  missionaries  and  others  in 
Beirut,  gave  them  some  relief,  and  the  kind  words  of 
sympathy  strengthened  their  hearts.  The  school 
was  kept  up  amid  all  these  troubles.  One  of  the 
boys  was  taught  in  Abeih  Seminary,  and  two  of  the 
girls  were  sent  to  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary. 

You  would  have  been  amused  to  see  those -girls 
when  they  first  reached  Beirut.  They  walked  bare- 
foot from  Safita  down  to  Tripoli,  about  forty  miles, 
and  then  Uncle  S.  took  them*on  to  Beirut.  He 
bought  shoes  for  them,  and  hired  two  little  donkeys 
for  them  to  ride,  but  they  preferred  to  walk  a  part  of 
the  way,  and  would  carry  their  shoes  in  their  hands 
and  run  along  the  sandy  beach  in  the  surf,  far  ahead 
of  the  animals.  I  rode  out  to  meet  them,  and  they 
were  a  sorry  sight  to  see.  Uncle  S.  rode  a  forlorn- 
looking  horse,  and  two  ragged  men  from  Safita  walk- 
ed by  his  side,  followed  by  two  ragged  fat-faced 
girls  riding  on  little  donkeys.  The  girls  were  almost 
bewildered  at  the  city  sights  and  scenes.  Soon  we 
met  a  carriage,  and  they  were  so  frightened  that  they 
turned  pale,  and  their  donkeys  were  almost  para- 
lyzed with  fear.  One  of  the  little  girls,  when  asked  if 
she  knew  what  that  was,  said  It  was  a  mill  walking. 

The  first  few  days  in  school  they  were  so  home- 
sick for  Safita  that  they  ran  away  several  times. 
They  could  not  bear  to  be  washed  and  combed  and 
sent  to  the  Turkish  bath,  but  wanted  to  come  back 
here  among  the  goats  and  calves  and  donkeys.  One 
night  they  went  to  their  room  and  cried  aloud. 
Rufka,  the  teacher,  asked  them  what  they  wanted  ? 


2/8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

They  said,  pointing  to  the  white  beds,  ""We  don't 
like  these  white  things  to  sleep  on.  We  don't  want 
to  stay  here.  There  are  no  calves  and  donkeys,  and 
the  room  is  so  light  and  cold  !  "  The  people  here  in 
Safita  think  that  the  cattle  help  to  keep  the  room 
warm.  In  the  daytime  they  complained  of  being 
tired  of  sitting  on  the  seats  to  study,  and  wished  to 
stand  up  and  rest.  One  was  II  and  the  other  12 
years  old,  and  that  was  in  1865. 

One  of  them,  itaheel,  fell  sick  after  a  time,  and 
was  much  troubled  about  her  sins.  Her  teacher 
Sara,  who  slept  near  her,  overheard  her  praying  and 
saying,  "  Oh  Lord  Jesus,  do  give  me  a  new  heart !  I 
am  a  poor  sinner.  Do  you  suppose  that  because  I  am 
from  Safita,  you  cannot  give  me  a  new  heart  ?  O 
Lord,  I  know  you  can.  Do  have  mercy  on  me !  " 

Who  are  those  clean  and  well  dressed  persons 
coming  out  of  the  church  ?  Our  dear  brother  Yusef 
Ahtiyeh,  the  native  preacher,  and  his  wife  Hadla, 
and  Miriam,  the  teacher  of  the  girls'  school.  Yusef 
is  one  of  the  most  refined  and  lovely  young  men  in 
Syria.  What  a  clear  eye  he  has,  and  what  a  pleasant 
face!  He  too  has  borne  much  for  his  Master.  In 
1865,  when  he  left  the  Greek  Church,  he  was  living 
with  his  brother  in  Beirut.  His  brother  turned  him 
out  of  the  house  at  night,  with  neither  bed  nor 
clothing.  He  came  to  my  house  and  staid  with 
me  some  time.  He  said  it  was  hard  to  be  driven 
out  by  his  brother  and  mother,  but  he  could  bear 
anything  for  Christ's  sake.  Said  he,  "  I  can  bear 
cursing  aVid  beating  and  the  loss  of  property.  But 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  279 

my  mother  is  weeping  and  wailing  over  me.  She 
thinks  I  am  a  heretic  and  am  lost  forever.  Oh,  it  is 
hard  to  bear,  the  '  persecution  of  tears  ! '  '  But  the 
Lord  gave  him  grace  to  bear  it,  and  he  is  now  the 
happy  spiritual  guide  of  this  large  Protestant  com- 
munity, and  the  Nusairy  Sheikhs  look  up  to  him  with 
respect,  while  that  persecuting  brother  of  his  is 
poverty-stricken  and  sick, -and  can  hardly  get  bread 
for  his  children. 

Miriam,  the  teacher,  is  a  heroine.  Her  parents 
were  Greeks,  but  sent  her  to  school  to  learn  to 
read.  She  learned  in  a  short  time  to  read  the 
New  Testament,  and  to  love  it,  and  to  keep  the 
Sabbath  day  holy.  The  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  was 
something  new  in  Safita.  The  Nusairiyeh  have  no 
holy  day  at  all,  and  the  Greeks  have  so  many  that 
they  keep  none  of  them.  They  work  and  buy  and 
sell  and  travel  on  the  Sabbath  as  on  other  days,  and 
think  far  more  of  certain  saint's  days  than  of  the  Sab- 
bath. When  Miriam  was  only  seven  years  old,  her 
father  said  to  her  one  Sabbath  morning,  "  go  with  me 
to  the  hursh  (forest)  to  get  a  donkey  load  of  wood." 
She  replied,  "  my  father,  I  cannot  go,  it  is  not  right, 
for  it  is  God's  day."  The  father  went  without  her, 
and  while  cutting  wood,  his  donkey  strayed  away, 
and  he  had  to  search  through  the  mountains  for 
hours,  so  that  he  did  not  reach  home  until  twelve 
o'clock  at  night,  and  then  without  any  wood.  •  He 
said  he  should  not  go  for  wood  on  Sunday  any  more. 
But  a  few  Sundays  after,  it  was  the  olive  season, 
and  Miriam's  mother  to'd  her  to  go  out  with  the 


280  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

women  and  girls  to  gather  olives.  They  had  been 
at  work  during  the  week,  and  the  mother  thought 
Miriam  ought  to  go  on  Sunday  with  the  rest.  But 
Miriam  said,  "don't  you  remember  father's  losing 
the  donkey,  and  what  he  said  about  it  ?  I  can- 
not go."  "Then,"  said  her  mother,  "if  you  will  not 
work,  you  shall  not  eat."  "  Very  well,  ya  imme,  I 
will  not  eat.  If  I  keep  the  Lord's  day,  He  will  keep 
me."  Away  went  the  mother  to  the  olive  orchard, 
and  Miriam  went  to  the  preaching  and  the  Sunday 
School.  At  evening,  when  the  family  all  came  home, 
Miriam  read  in  her  New  Testament  and  went  to  bed 
without  her  supper.  The  next  morning  she  said, 
"  Mother,  now  I  am  ready  to  gather  olives.  Didn't 
I  tell  you  the  Lord  would  keep  me  ?  " 

After  this  Miriam's  father  became  a  Protestant, 
and  allowed  the  missionaries  to  send  her  to  the  Sem- 
inary in  Sidon,  where  she  was  the  best  girl  in  the 
school.  When  she  went  home  in  the  vacation  in 
1869,  new  persecutions  were  stirred  up  against  the 
Protestants.  The  Greek  Bishop,  with  a  crowd  of 
priests  and  a  body  of  armed  horsemen,  came  to  the 
village,  to  compel  all  the  Protestants  to  turn  back  to 
the  old  religion.  The  armed  men  went  to  the  Protest- 
ant houses  and  seized  men  and  women  and  dragged 
them  to  the  great  Burj,  in  which  is  the  Greek  church. 
Miriam's  father  and  mother  were  greatly  terrified 
and-went  back  with  them  to  the  Greeks.  They  then 
called  for  Miriam.  "  Never,"  said  she  to  the  Bish- 
op, "  I  will  never  worship  pictures  and  pray  to  saints 
again.  You  may  cut  me  in  pieces,  but  I  will  not 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER  28 1 

stir  one  step  with  them."  The  o.ld  Bishop  turned 
back,  and  left  her  to  herself.  Near  by  was  a  man 
named  Abu  Isbir,  who  was  so  frightened  that  he 
said,  "  yes,  I  will  go  back,  don't  strike  me !"  But  his 
wife,  Im  Isbir,  was  not  willing  to  give  up.  She  re- 
buked her  husband  and  took  hold  of  his  arm,  and 
actually  dragged  him  back  to  his  house,  to  save  him 
the  shame  of  having  denied  the  Gospel.  He  stood 
firm,  and  afterwards  united  with  the  Church. 

Here  comes  Im  Isbir.  Poor  woman,  she  is  a 
widow  now.  Her  husband  died  and  left  her  with 
these  little  children,  and  last  night  her  valuable  cow 
died,  and  she  is  in  great  distress.  Yusef,  the  preach- 
er, says  she  is  the  most  needy  person  in  Safita.  You 
would  think  so  from  the  ragged  appearance  of  the 
children.  They  are  like  the  children  in  Eastern 
Turkey,  whom  Mr.  Williams  of  Mardin  used  to  de- 
scribe, whose  garments  were  so  ragged  and  tattered 
that  there  was  hardly  cloth  enough  to  make  bor- 
ders for  the  holes  !  They  dig  up  roots  in  the  fields 
for  food,  and  now  and  then  the  neighbors  give  them 
a  little  of  their  coarse  corn  bread.  The  Greeks  tell 
her  to  turn  back  to  them  and  they  will  help  her,  but 
she  says,  "  when  one  has  found  the  light,  can  she  turn 
back  into  the  darkness  again  ?''  Yusef  wishes  us  to 
walk  in  and  sit  down,  as  the  people  are  anxious  to 
see  us.  He  lives  in  the  church  from  necessity.  He 
cannot  get  a  house  in  the  village,  excepting  these 
dark  cavern-like  rooms  with  damp  floors,  and  so  the 
missionaries  told  him  to  occupy  one  half  of  the 
church  room.  A  curtain  divides  it  into  two  rooms, 


282  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  on  Sunday  the  curtain  is  drawn,  his  things  are 
piled  up  on  one  side,  and  the  women  and  girls  sit  in 
that  part,  while  the  men  and  boys  sit  on  the  other 
side.  All  sit  on  mats  on  the  floor.  Is  that  cradle 
hanging  from  the  ring  in  the  arch  between  the  two 
rooms,  kept  there  on  Sunday?  Yes,  and  when  I 
preached  here  last  June,  YusePs  baby  was  swinging 
there  during  the  whole  service.  One  of  the  women 
kept  it  swinging  gently,  by  pulling  a  cord,  which 
hung  down  from  it.  It  did  not  disturb  the  meeting 
at  all.  No  one  noticed  it.  They  have  calves  and 
cows,  donkeys  and  goats  in  their  own  houses  at  night, 
and  sleep  sweetly  enough,  so  that  the  swinging  of  a 
hanging  cradle  in  the  inside  of 'the  church  is  not 
thought  to  be  at  all  improper. 

Do  you  see  that  shelf  on  the  wall  ?  It  reminds 
me  of  a  little  girl  named  Miriam  who  once  came  to 
your  Aunt  Annie  in  Deir  Mimas  to  ask  about  the 
Sidon  school,  whither  she  was  going  in  a  few  weeks. 
She  told  Miriam  that  she  would  have  to  be  thor- 
oughly washed  and  combed  every  day,  and  would 
sleep  on  a  bedstead.  Then  Miriam  asked  permission 
to  see  a  bedstead,  as  she  did  not  know  what  it  could 
be.  The  next  night,  about  midnight,  Miriam's 
mother  heard  something  drop  heavily  on  the  floor, 
and  then  a  child  crying.  She  went  across  the  room, 
and  there  was  Miriam  sitting  on  the  mat.  "  What  is 
the  matter,  Miriam?"  she  asked.  Miriam  said, 
"  mother,  the  Sit  told  me  I  was  to  sleep  on  a  bed- 
stead in  Sidon  school,  and  I  thought  I  would  prac- 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  283 

tice  beforehand,  so  I  tried  to  sleep  on  the  shelf,  and 
tumbled  off  in  my  sleep  !  " 

Abu  Asaad  says  the  Nusairy  Sheikh  who  was 
arrested  some  months  ago  has  been  poisoned.  Poi- 
soning used  to  be  very  common  in  Syria.  If  we 
should  call  at  the  house  of  a  Nusairy,  and  he  brought 
coffee  for  us  to  drink,  he  would  take  a  sip  himself 
out  of  the  cup  before  giving  it  to  us,  to  show  that  it 
was  not  poisoned.  Once  Uncle  S.  and  Aunt  A. 
were  invited  out  to  dine  in  Hums  at  the  house  of 
the  deacon  of  the  church.  His  mother  is  an  igno- 
rant woman,  and  had  often  threatened  to  kill  him. 
When  they  had  eaten,  they  suddenly  were  taken  ill, 
and  suffered  mucn  from  the  effects  of  it.  It  was 
found  that  the  mother  had  put  poison  into  the  food, 
intending  to  kill  her  son,  the  missionaries,  and  the 
other  invited  guests,  but  through  the  mercy  of  God 
none  of  them  were  seriously  injured. 

Michaiel  says  that  they  have  only  half  a  crop  of 
corn  this  year,  as  th«  locusts  devoured  the  other  half 
in  the  spring.  You  remember  I  sent  you  some 
locusts'  wings  once,  in  a  letter.  When  they  appear 
in  the  land,  the  Pashas  and  Mudirs  and  Kaimakams 
give  orders  to  the  people  to  go  out  and  gather  the 
eggs  of  the  locusts  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  settle 
down  to  bury  themselves  in  the  earth.  The  body 
of  the  female  locust  is  like  the  spawn  of  a  fish,  filled 
with  one  mass  of  eggs.  Each  man  is  obliged  to 
bring  so  many  ounces  of  these  eggs  to  the  Pasha 
and  have  them  weighed  and  then  burned.  A  tailor 
of  Beirut  brought  a  bag  of  them,  and  as  it  was  late, 


284  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

put  them  in  his  shop  for  the  night  and  went  home. 
He  was  unwell  for  a  few  days  and  when  he  went  to 
his  shop  again,  opened  the  door,  and  thousands  of 
little  black  hopping  creatures,  like  imps,  came  like  a 
cloud  into  his  face.  They  had  hatched  out  in  his 
absence. 

This  is  a  fearful  land  for  lying ;  in  these  moun- 
tains around  us,  you  cannot  depend  on  a  word  you 
hear.  The  people  say  that  in  the  beginning  of  the" 
world,  Satan  came  down  to  the  earth  with  seven 
bags  of  lies,  which  he  intended  to  distribute  in  the 
seven  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  The  first  night  after 
he  reached  the  earth  he  slept  in  Syria,  and  opened 
one  of  the  bags,  letting  the  lies  'loose  in  the  land. 
But  while  he  was  asleep,  some  one  came  and  open- 
ed all  the  other  bags !  so  that  Syria  got  more  than 
her  share ! 

An  old  man  in  Beirut  once  said,  "  Sir,  you  must 
be  careful  what  you  believe,  and  whom  you  trust 
in  this  country.  If  there  are  twenty-four  inches  of 
hypocrisy  in  the  world,  twenty-three  are  in  Syria." 
This  man  was  a  native  of  great  experience.  I  think 
he  was  rather  severe  on  his  countrymen.  Yet  the 
people  have  had  a  hard  training.  The  Nusairiyeh 
all  lie.  They  do  not  even  pretend  to  tell  the  truth. 
The  Druze  religion  teaches  the  people  that  it  is  right 
to  lie  to  all  except  Druzes.  The  Moslems  are  better 
than  either  of  these  two  classes,  but  they  lie  without 
a  blush,  and  you  must  be  very  careful  how  you  be- 
lieve them. 

Among  the    Maronite    and   Greek   sects,   their 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  285 

priests  tell  the  people  that  they  can  forgive  sins. 
When  a  man  lies  or  steals  or  does  anything  else  that 
is  wicked,  he  pays  a  few  piastres  to  the  priest,  who 
gives  him  what  they  call  absolution  or  forgiveness. 
So  the  people  can  do  what  they  please  without  fear, 
as  the  priest  is  ready  to  forgive  them  -for  money. 
These  sects  call  themselves  Christian,  but  there  is 
very  little  of  Christianity  among  them.  A  Greek  in 
Tripoli  once  told  me  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  the 
Greek  church  in  Tripoli  who  would  not  lie,  excepting 
one  of  the  priests. 

Leaving  Safita,  we  will  go  back  on  a  different 
road,  crossing  directly  to  the  sea-shore,  and  then 
along  the  coast  to  Tripoli.  Here  is  a  little  abject 
village,  and  the  people  look  as'  abject  as  the  village. 
Their  neighbors  laugh  at  them  for  their  stupidity, 
and  tell  the  following  story :  They  have  no  wells  in 
the  village,  and  the  little  fountain  is  not  sufficient  for 
their  cattle,  so  they  water  them  from  the  Ramet  or 
pool,  which  is  fille'd  by  the  rains  and  lasts  nearly  all 
summer.  One  year  the  water  in  tjie  Ramet  began 
to  fail,  and  there  was  a  quarrel  between  the  two 
quarters  of  the  village,  as  to  which  part  should  have 
the  first  right  to  the  water.  Finally  they  decided  to 
divide  the  pool  into  two  parts,  by  making  a  fence 
of  poles  across  the  middle  of  it.  This  worked  very 
well.  One  part  watered  their  cattle  on  one  side  and 
the  other  part  on  the  other  side.  But  one  night 
there  was  a  great  riot  in  the  village.  Some  of  the 
men  from  the  north  side  saw  a  south-sider  dipping 
up  water  from  the  north  side  and  pouring  it  over  the 


286  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

fence  into  the  other  part  of  the  pool.  Of  course 
this  made  no  difference,  as  the  fence  was  nothing 
but  open  lattice  work,  but  the  people  were  too  stupid 
to  see  that,  so  they  fought  and  bruised  one  another 
for  a  long  time. 

In  another  village,  Aalcih,  near  Beirut,  the  peo- 
ple wTere  formerly  so  stupid  that  the  Arabs  say  that 
once  when  the  clouds  came  up  the  mountains 
and  settled  like  a  bank  of  fog  under  the  cliff  on 
which  their  village  is  built,  they  thought  it  was  the 
sea,  and  went  to  fish  in  the  clouds ! 

So  you  see  the  Syrians  are  as  fond  of  humorous 
stories  as  other  people. 


PART    IV. 

But  here  we  are  comiifg  upon  a  gypsy  camp.  The 
Arabs  call  them  Nowar,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
Arab  women  of  the  villages  are  careful  to  keep  an 
eye  on  their  litUe  children  when  the  gypsies  are 
around.  They  often  steal  children  in  the  towns  and 
cities,  when  they  can  find  them  straying  away  from 
home  at  dusk,  and  then  sell  them  as  servants  in 
Moslem  families.  Last  year  we  were  all  greatly  in- 
terested in  a  story  of  this  kind,  which  I  know  you 
will  be  glad  to  hear. 

After  the  terrible  massacre  in  Damascus  in  1860, 
thousands  of  the  Greek  and  Greek  Catholic  families 
migrated  to  Beirut,  and  among  them  was  a  man  named 
Khalil  Ferah,  who  escaped  the  fire  and  sword  with 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  287 

his  wife  and  his  little  daughter  Zahidy.  I  remember 
well  how  we  were  startled  one  evening  in  1862,  by 
hearing  a  crier  going  through  the  streets,  "  child 
lost  !  girl  lost !"  The  next  day  he  came  around 
again,  "  child  lost!"  .There  was  great  excitement 
about  it.  The  poor  father  and  mother  went  almost 
frantic.  Little  Zahidy,  who  was  then  about  six  years 
old,  was  coming  home  from  school  with  other  girls 
in  the  afternoon,  and  they  said  a  man  came  along 
with  a  sack  on  his  back,  and  told  Zahidy  that 
her  mother  had  sent  him  to  buy  her  some  sugar 
plums  and  then  take  her  home,  and  she  went  away 
with  him.  It  is  supposed  that  he  decoyed  her  away 
to  some  by-road  and  then  put  her  into  the  great 
sack,  and  carried  her  off  to  the  Arabs  or  the  gypsies.. 
The  poor  father  left  no  means  untried  to  find 
her.  He  wrote  to  Damascus,  Alexandria,  and  Alep- 
po, describing  the  child  and  begged  his  friends  every- 
where to  watch  for  her,  and  send  him  word  if  they 
found  her.  There  was  one  mark  on  the  child, 
which,  he  said,  would  be  certain  to  distinguish  her. 
When  she  was  a  baby,  and  nursing  at  her  mother's 
breast,  her  mother  upset  a  little  cup  of  scalding  hot 
coffee  upon  the  child's  breast,  which  burned  it  to  a 
blister,  leaving  a  scar  which  could  not  be  removed. 
This  sign  the  father  described,  and  his  friends  aided 
him  in  trying  to  find  the  little  girl.  They  went  to 
the  encampments  of  the  gypsies  and  looked  at  all  the 
children,  but  all  in  vain.  The  father  journeyed  by 
land  and  by  sea.  Hearing  of  a  little  girl  in  Aleppo 
who  could  not  give  an  account  of  herself,  he  went 


288  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

there,  but  it  was  not  his  child.  Then  he  went  to 
Damascus  and  Alexandria,  and  at  length  hearing 
that  a  French  Countess  in  Marseilles  had  a  little 
Syrian  orphan  girl  whose  parents  were  not  known, 
he  sent  to  Marseilles  and  examined  the  girl,  but  she 
was  not  his  child.  Months  and  years  passed  on,  but 
the  father  never  ceased  to  speak  and  think  of  that 
little  lost  girl.  The  mother  too  was  almost  dis- 
tracted. 

At  length  light  came.  Nine  years  had  passed 
away,  and  the  Beirut  people  had  almost  forgotten  the 
story  of  the  lost  Damascene  girl.  Your  uncle  S.  and 
your  Aunt  A.  were  sitting  in  their  house  one  day, 
in  Tripoli,  when  Tannoos,  the  boy,  brought  word 
that  a  man  and  woman  from  Beirut  wished  to  see 
them.  They  came  in  and  introduced  themselves. 
They  were  Khalil,  the  father  of  the  little  lost  girl, 
and  his  sister,  who  had  heard  that  Zahidy  was  in 
Tripoli,  and  had  come  to  search  for  her.  The  moth- 
er was  not  able  to  leave  home. 

It  seems  that  a  native  physician  in  Tripoli,  nam- 
ed Sheikh  Aiub  el  Hashim,  was  an  old  friend  of  the 
father  and  had  known  the  fa^nily  and  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  little  girl's  disappearance,  and  for 
years  he  had  been  looking  for  her.  At  length  he 
was  called  one  day  to  attend  a  sick  servant  girl  in  the 
family  of  a  Moslem  named  Syed  Abdullah.  The 
poor  girl  was  ill  from  having  been  beaten  in  a  cruel 
manner  by  the  Moslem.  Her  face  and  arms  were 
tattooed  in  the  Bedawin  style,  and  she  told  him  that 
she  was  a  Bedawin  girl,  and  had  been  living  here  for 


Women  Weeping  at  the  Tomb. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER, 


289 


some  years,  and  her  name  was  Khodra.  While  ex- 
amining the  bruises  on  her  body,  he  observed  a  pe- 
culiar scar  on  her  breast.  He  was  startled.  He 
looked  again.  It  was  precisely  the  scar  that  his 
friend  had  so  often  described  to  him.  From  her  age, 
her  features,  her  complexion  and  all,  he  felt  sure  that 
she  was  the  lost  child.  He  said  nothing,  but:  went 
home  and  wrote  all  about  it  to  the  father  in  Beirut. 
He  hastened  to  Tripoli  bringing  his  sister,  as  he  be- 
ing a  man,  could  not  be  admitted  to  a  Moslem  ha- 
reem.  Then  the  question  arose,  how  should  the  sis- 
ter see  the  girl !  They  came  and  talked  with  your 
uncle,  and  went  to  Yanni  and  the  other  Vice  Con- 
suls, and  at  length  they  found  out  that  the  women  of 
that  Moslem  family  were  skillful  in  making  silk  and 
gold  embroidery  which  they  sold.  So  his  sister  de- 
termined to  go  and  order  some  embroidered  work, 
and  see  the  gifl.  She  talked  with  the  Moslem  wom- 
en, and  with  their  Bedawy  servant  girl,  and  made 
errands  for  the  women  to  bring  her  specimens  of 
their  work,  improving  the  opportunity  to  talk  with 
the  servant.  She  saw  the  scar,  and  satisfied  herself 
from  the  striking  resemblance  of  the  girl  to  her 
mother,  that  she  was  the  long-lost  Zahidy. 

The  father  now  took  measures  to  secure  his 
daughter.  The  American,  Prussian,  English  and 
French  Vice  Consuls  sent  a  united  demand  to  the 
Turkish  Pasha,  that  the  girl  be  brought  to  court  to 
meet  her  father,  and  that  the  case  be  tried  in  the 
Mejlis,  or  City  Council.  The  Moslems  were  now 
greatly  excited.  They  knew  that  there  were  not  less 
13 


290 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


than  twenty  girls  in  their  families  who  had  been  sto- 
len in  this  way,  and  if  one  could  be  reclaimed,  per- 
haps the  rest  might,  so  they  resolved  to  resist.  They 
brought  Bedawin  Arabs  to  be  present  at  the  trial, 
and  hired  them  to  swear  falsely.  When  the  girl 
was  brought  in,  the  father  was  quite  overcome.  He 
could  see  the  features  of  his  dear  child,  but  she  was 
so  disfigured  with  the  Bedawin  tattooing  and  the  bru- 
tal treatment  of  the  Moslems,  that  his  heart  sank 
within  him.  Yet  he  examined  her,  and  took  his 
oath  that  this  was  his  daughter,  and  demanded 
that  she  be  given  up  to  him.  The  Bedawin  men  and 
women  were  now  brought  in.  One  swore  that  he 
was  the  father  of  the  girl,  and  a  woman  swore  that 
she  was  her  mother.  Then  several  swore  that  they 
were  her  uncles,  but  it  was  proved  that  they  were  in 
no  way  related  to  the  one  who  said  he  was  her  fath- 
er. Other  witnesses  were  called,  but  they  contradict- 
ed one  another.  Then  they  asked  the  girl.  Poor 
thing,  she  had  been  so  long  neglected  and  abused, 
that  she  had  forgotten  her  father,  and  the  Moslem 
women  had  threatened  to  kill  her  if  she  sai-d  she  was 
his  daughter,  so  she  declared  she  was  born  among 
the  Bedawin,  and  was  a  Moslem  in  religion.  Money 
had  been  given  to  certain  of  the  Mejlis,  and  they 
finally  decided  that  the  girl  should  go  to  the  Moslem 
house  of  Derwish  Effendi  to  await  the  final  decis- 
ion. 

The  poor  father  now  went  to  the  Consuls.  They 
made  out  a  statement  of  the  case  and  sent  it  to  the 
Consuls  General  in  Beirut,  who  sent  a  joint  dispatch 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


29I 


to  the  Waly  of  all  Syria,  who  lives  in  Damascus,  de- 
manding that  as  the  case  could  not  be  fairly  tried 
in  Tripoli,  the  gkl  be  brought  to  Beirut  to  be  exam- 
ined by  a  Special  Commission.  The  Waly  tele- 
graphed at  once  to  Tripoli,  to  have  the  girl  sent  on 
by  the  first  steamer  to  Beirut.  The  Moslem  women 
now  told  the  girl  that  orders  had  come  to  have  her 
killed,  and  that  she  was  to  be  taken  on  a  steamer  as 
if  to  go  to  Beirut,  but  that  really  they  were  going 
to  throw  her  into  the  sea,  and  that  if  she  reached 
Beirut  alive  they  would  cut  her  up  and  burn  her ! 
So  the  poor  child  went  on  the  steamer  in  perfect 
terror,  and  she  reached  Beirut  in  a  state  of  exhaus- 
tion. When  she  was  rested,  a  Commission  was 
formed  consisting  of  the  Moslem  Kadi  of  Beirut  who 
was  acting  Governor,  the  political  Agent,  Delenda 
Effendi,  the  Greek  Catholic  Bishop  Agabius,  the 
Maronite  Priest  Yusef,  and  the  agent  of  the  Greek 
Bishop,  together  with  all  the  members  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council. 

Her  father,  mother  and  aunt  were  now  brought 
in  and  sat  near  her.  She  refused  to  recognize  them, 
and  was  in  constant  fear  of  being  injured.  The 
Kadi  then  turned  to  her  and  said,  "  Jto  not  fear,  my 
child.  You  are  among  friends.  Do  not  be  afraid 
of  people  who  have  threatened  you.  No  one  shall 
harm  you."  The  Moslem  Kadi,  the  Greek  Catholic 
priests,  and  others  having  thus  spoken  kindly  to  her, 
the  father  and  mother  stated  the  history  of  how  the 
little  girl  was  lost  nine  years  ago,  and  that  she  had  a 
scar  on  her  breast.  The  scar  was  examined,  and 


202  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

all  began  to  feel  that  she  was  really  their  own 
daughter.  The  girl  began  to  feel  more  calm,  and 
the  Kadi  told  her  that  her  own  mother  wanted  to 
ask  her  a  few  questions. 

Her  mother  now  went  up  to  her  and  said,  "  My 
child,  don't  you  remember  me?"  She  said  "  no  I 
do  not."  "  Don't  you  remember  that  your  name  was 
once  Zahidy,  and  I  used  to  call  you,  and  you  lived  in 
a  house  with  a  little  yard,  and '  flowers  before  the 
door,  and  that  you  went  with  the  little  girls  to 
school,  and  came  home  at  night,  and  that  one  day  a 
man  came  and  offered  you  sugar  plums  and  led  you 
away  and  carried  you  off  to  the  Arabs?  Don't  you 
know  me,  my  own  daughter?"  The  poor  girl  trem- 
bled ;  her  lips  quivered,  and  she  said,  "  Yes,  I  did 
have  another  name.  I  was  Zahidy.  I  did  go  with 
little  girls.  Oh,  ya  imme !  My  mother !  you  are 
my  mother,"  and  she  sprang  into  her  arms  and 
wept,  and  the  mother  wept  and  laughed,  and  the 
Moslem  Kadi  and  the  Mufti,  and  the  priests  and  the 
Bishops  and  the  Effendis  and  the  great  crowd  of 
spectators  wiped  their  eyes,  and  bowed  their  heads, 
and  there  was  a  great  silence. 

After  a  little  the  Kadi  said,  "  it  is  enough.  This 
girl  is  the  daughter  of  Kahlil  Ferah.  Sir,  take  your 
child,  and  Allah  be  with  you ! " 

The  father  wiped  away  the  tears  and  said,  "Your 
Excellency,  you  see  this  poor  girl  all  tattooed  and 
disfigured.  You  see  how  ignorant  and  feeble  she  is. 
If  she  were  not  my  child,  there  is  nothing  about  her 
to  make  me  wish  to  take  her.  But  she  is  my  own 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  293 

darling  child,  and  with  all  her  faults  and  infirmities, 
I  love  her."  The  whole  Council  then  arose  and  con- 
gratulated the  father  and  mother,  and  a  great  crowd 
accompanied  them  home.  Throngs  of  people  came 
to  see  her  and  congratulate  the  family,  and  after  a 
little  the  girl  was  sent  to  a  boarding  school. 

I  can  hardly  think  over  this  story  even  now  with- 
out tears,  for  I  think  how  glad  I  should  have  been 
to  get  back  again  a  child  of  mine  if  it  had  been  lost. 
And  I  have  another  thought  too  about  that  little 
lost  girl.  If  that  father  loved  his  daughter  so  as  to 
search  and  seek  for  her,  and  expend  money,  and 
travel  by  land  and  sea  for  years,  in  trying  to  find 
her,  and  when  at  length  he  found  her,  so  forlorn  and 
wretched  and  degraded,  yet  loved  her  still  because 
she  was  his  daughter,  do  you  not  think  that  Jesus 
loves  us  even  more?  We  were  lost  and  wretched 
and  forlorn.  A  worse  being  than  Bedawin  gypsies 
has  put  his  mark  on  our  hearts  and  our  natures. 
We  have  wandered  far,  far  away.  We  have  served 
the  world,  and  forgotten  our  dear  Heavenly  Father. 
We  have  even  refused  to  receive  Him  when  he  has 
come  near  us.  Yet  Jesus  came  to  seek  and  to  save 
us.  And  when  he  found  us  so  degraded  and  sinful 
and  disfigured,  He  loved  us  still,  because  we  are 
His  own  children.  Don't  you  think  that  the  little 
lost  Damascene  girl  was  thankful  when  she  reached 
her  home,  and  was  loved  and  kindly  treated  by 
father  and  mother  and  relatives  and  friends?  And 
ought  we  not  to  be  very  thankful  when  Jesus  brings 


294 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


us  home,  and  calls  us  "  dear  children"  and  opens  the 
gate  of  heaven  to  us  ? 

This  story  of  the  lost  Damascene  child  calls  to  my 
mind  a  little  song  which  the  Maronite  women  in 
Lebanon  sing  to  their  babies  as  a  lullaby.  The 
story  is  that  a  Prince's  daughter  was  stolen  by  the 
Bedawin  Arabs,  and  carried  to  their  camp.  She 
grew  up  and  was  married  to  a  Bedawin  Sheikh  and 
had  a  little  son.  One  day  a  party  of  muleteers  came 
to  the  camp  selling  grapes,  and  she  recognized  them 
as  from  her  own  village.  She  did  not  dare  speak  to 
them,  so  she  began  to  sing  a  lullaby  to  her  baby, 
and  motioned  to  the  grape-sellers  to  come  near,  and 
when  the  Bedawin  were  not  listening,  she  would 
sing  them  her  story  in  the  same  tone  as  the  lullaby. 

*       THE  LULLABY. 

Sleep,  baby  sleep  !  a  sleep  so  sweet  and  mild, 
A  'd  i   tJ          Sleep,  my  Arab  boy,  my  little  Bedawin  child ! 

> Once  I  was  a  happy  girl, 

The  Prince  Abdullah's  daughter. 
Playing  with  the  village  maids, 
Bringing  wood  and  water. 
Suddenly  the  Bedawin 
Carried  me  away ; 
Clothed  me  in  the  Aba  robe 
And  here  they  make  me  stay. 
Sleep,  baby  sleep  !  a  sleep  so  sweet  and  mild, 
Sleep,  my  Arab  boy,  my  little  Bedawin  child  ! 

Aside Ye  sellers  of  grapes  hear  what  I  say. 

I  had  dressed  in  satin  rich  and  gay. 
They  took  my  costly  robes  away, 
And  dressed  rce  in  Aba  coarse  and  grey. 
I  liad  lived  on  viands  costly  and  rare, 
And  now  raw  camel's  flesh  is  my  fare. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER,  295 

Sleep,  baby  sleep  !  a  sleep  so  sweet  and  mild, 
Sleep,  my  Arab  boy,  my  little  Bedawin  child  ! 

Aside Oh  seller  of  grapes,  I  beg  you  hear, 

Go  tell  my  mother  and  father  dear, 
That  you  have  seen  me  here  to-day. 
Just  by  the  Church  my  parents  live, 
The  Bedawin  stole  me  on  Thursday  eve. 
Let  the  people  come  and  their  sister  save, 
Let  them  come  with  warriors  bold  and  brave, 
Lest  I  die  of  grief  and  go  to  my  grave. 

The  grape-sellers  then  go  home,  and  the  warriors 
come  and  rescue  her,  and  take  her  home. 

We  will  stop  here  a  moment  and  make  a  pencil 
sketch  of  this  Arab  camp,  but  we  must- be  very  care- 
ful not  to  let  them  see  us  writing.  They  have  a 
great  fear  of  the  art  of  writing,  a  superstitious  idea 
that  a  person  who  writes  or  sketches  in  their  camp, 
is  writing  some  charm  or  incantation  to  bring  mis- 
chief upon  them.  I  once  heard  of  a  missionary  who 
went  to  an  Arab  village  to  spend  the  night.  The 
people  were  all  Maronites,  and  grossly  ignorant.  He 
pitched  his  tent  and  sat  down  to  rest.  Presently  a 
crowd  of  rough  young  men  came  in  and  began  to  in- 
sult him.  They  demanded  bakhshish,  and  handled 
his  bedding  and  cooking  utensils  in  a  very  brutal 
manner,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  weapons.  He 
bethought  himself  of  one  weapon  and  began  to  use 
it.  He  took  out  a  pencil  and  paper,  and  began  to 
make  a  sketch  of  the  ringleader.  He  looked  him 
steadily  in  the  eye,  and  then  wrote  rapidly  with  his 
pencil.  The  man  began  to  tremble  and  slowly  re- 
treated and  finally  shouted  to  his  companions,  and 


296  THE  WOMEN  OF    THE  ARABS. 

off  they  all  went.  Shortly  after,  they  sent  a  man 
to  beg  Mr.  L.  not  to  cut  off  their  heads !  Their 
priests  teach  them  that  the  Protestants  have  the 
power  of  working  magic,  and  that  they  draw  a  man's 
portrait  and  take  it  with  them,  and  if  the  man  does 
anything  to  displease  them,  they  cut  off  the  head  of 
the  picture  and  the  man's  head  drops  off!  Mr.  L. 
sent  them  word  that  they  had  better  be  very  careful 
how  they  behaved.  They  did  not  molest  him  again. 
Here  we  are  near  Tripoli,  at  the  Convent  of  the 
Sacred  Fish.  What  a  beautiful  spot !  This  large 
high  building  with  its  snow-white  dome,  and  the 
great  sycamore  tree  standing  by  this  circular  pool  of 
crystal  water,  make  a  beautiful  scene.  What  a  crowd 
of  Moslem  boys  !  They  have  come  all  the  way  from 
Tripoli,  about  two  miles,  to  feed  the  Sacred  Fish. 
They  are  a  gay  looking  company,  with  their  red, 
green,  blue,  yellow,  white  and  purple  clothes,  and 
their  bright  red  caps  and  shoes,  and  some  of  them 
with  white  turbans.  They  come  out  on  feast  days 
and  holidays  to  play  on  this  green  lawn  and  feed  the 
fish.  The  old  sheikh  who  keeps  this  holy  place,  has 
great  faith  in  these  fish.  He  says  they  are  all  good 
Moslems,  and  are  inhabited  by  the  souls  of  Moslem 
saints,  and  there  is  one  black  fish,  the  Sheikh  of  the 
saints,  who  does  not  often  show  himself  to  spectators. 
There  are  hundreds  if  not  thousands  of  fish,  resem- 
bling the  dace  or  chubs  of  America.  He  says  that  du- 
ring the  Crimean  war,  many  of  the  older  ones  went 
off  under  the  sea  to  Sevastopol  and  fought  the  Rus- 
sian infidels,  and  some  of  them  came  back  wounded. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


297 


The  people  think  that  if  any  one  eats  these  fish  he 
will  die  immediately.  That  I  know  to  be  false,  for  I 
have  tried  it.  When  the  American  Consul  was  here 
in  1856,  his  Moslem  Kawasses  caught  several  of  the 
fish,  and  brought  them  to  Mr.  Lyons'  house.  We 
had  them  cooked  and  ate  them,  but  found  them 
coarse  and  unpalatable.  That  was  sixteen  years  ago* 
and  we  have  not  felt  the  evil  effects  yet. 

This  poor  woman  has  a  sick  child,  and  has  come 
to  get  the  Sheikh  to  read  the  Koran  over  it  and  cure 
it.  The  most  of  the  Syrian  doctors  are  ignorant 
quacks,  and  the  people  have  so  many  superstitions 
that  they  prefer  going  to  saints'  tombs  rather  than 
call  a  good  physician.  There  is  a  Medical  College 
in  Beirut  now,  and  before  long  Syria  will  have  some 
skilful  doctors.  I  knew  an  old  Egyptian  doctor  in 
Duma  named  Haj  Ibrahim,  who  was  a  conceited  fel- 
low. He  used  to  bleed  for  every  kind  of  disease. 
An  old  man  eighty  years  of  age  was  dying  of  con- 
sumption, and  the  Haj  opened  a  vein  and  let  him 
bleed  to  death.  When  the  man  died,  he  said  if  he 
had  only  taken  a  little  more  blood,  the  old  man 
would  have  recovered.  I  was  surprised  by  his  com- 
ing to  me  one  day  and  asking  for  some  American 
newspapers,  I  supposed  he  wished  them  to  wrap 
medicines  in  and  gave  him  several  New  York  Tri- 
bunes. A  few  days  after  he  invited  us  to  eat  figs  and 
grapes  in  his  vineyard  and  we  stopped  at  his  house. 
He  said  he  was  very  thankful  for  the  papers.  They 
had  been  very  useful.  I  wondered  what  he  meant, 
and  asked  him.  He  showed  me  a  jar  in  the  corner 
13* 


298  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

in  which  he  had  dissolved  the  papers  into  a  pulp  in 
oil  and  water,  and  had  given  the  pulp  as  medicine  to 
the  people  !  He  said  it  was  a  powerful  medicine. 
He  supposed  that  the  English  printed  letters  would 
have  some  magic  influence  on  diseases. 

One  of  the  Moslem  lads  carries  a  short  iron  spear 
as  a  sign  that  he  is  going  to  be  a  derwish.  Dr.  De 
Forest  once  found  himself  surrounded  in  a  Moslem 
village  by  a  troop  of  little  Moslems,  each  of  them 
with  an  iron-headed  spear  in  his  hand.  A  Moorish 
Sheikh,  or  Chief,  had  been  for  some  two  years  teach- 
ing the  Moslems  of  the  place  the  customs  of  their 
holy  devotees,  and  in  consequence  all  the  boys  had 
become  derwishes,  or  Moslem  monks.  He  was  a 
shrewd  old  Sheikh.  He  knew  that  the  true  way  to 
perpetuate  his  religion  was  to  teach  the  children. 
He  had  taught  them  the  Moslem  prayers  and  pros- 
trations, and  to  keep  certain  moral  precepts.  How 
glad  we  should  be  if  these  boys  would  come  and  sit 
down  by  us  while  we  talk  to  them  of  Jesus !  There 
they  come.  See  how  their  eyes  sparkle,  as  I  speak 
to  them.  They  have  never  heard  about  the  gospel 
before.  But  I  must  speak  in  a  low  tone,  as  the  old 
Sheikh  is  coming  and  he  looks  down  upon  us  as  infi- 
del dogs !  Perhaps  some  of  them  will  think  of 
these  words  some  day,  and  put  their  trust  in  our  Di- 
vine Saviour. 

Many  of  the  people  seem  to  think  that  the  mis- 
sionary's house  is  like  the  Cave  of  Adullam,  where 
David  lived,  (i  Sam.  xxii:  2)  when  "every  one 
that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in  debt, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  299 

and  every  one  that  was  discontented,  gathered 
themselves  unto  him."  It  makes  it  very  hard  to 
deal  with  the  people,  to  have  so  many  of  them  come 
to  us  with  improper  motives.  They  come  and  say 
they  love  the  gospel  and  want  instruction,  and  have 
endured  persecution,  when  suddenly  you  find  that 
they  want  money,  or  to  be  protected  from  punish- 
ment, or  to  get  office,  or  to  get  married  to  some  im- 
proper person,  or  something  else  that  is  wrong. 

Once  a  sheikh  from  Dunniyeh  in  Lebanon  came 
to  Tripoli,  and  declared  himself  a  Protestant.  He 
was  very  zealous,  and  wanted  us  to  feel  that  he  was 
too  good  a  man  to  be  turned  away,  as  he  was  wealthy 
and  of  a  high  family.  He  was  armed  with  a  small 
arsenal  of  weapons.  He  had  a  servant  to  carry  his 
gun  and  pipe,  and  came  day  after  day  to  read  books, 
and  talk  on  religion.  He  said  that  all  he  needed 
was  the  protection  of  the  American  Consul,  and  then 
he  would  make  his  whole  village  Protestants.  We 
told  him  we  could  have  nothing  to  do  with  politics. 
If  he  wanted  to  become  a  Christian,  he  must  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  Christ.  He  said  that  was  just 
what  he  wanted  to  do,  only  he  wished  to  benefit  the 
cause  by  bringing  others  to  follow  Him.  He  seem- 
ed very  earnest,  but  there  was  something  dark  and 
mysterious  in  his  ways,  and  we  were  afraid  of  him. 
Now  the  Arabs  have  a  proverb,  "  No  tree  is  cut 
down  but  by  one  of  its  own  limbs,"  i.  e.  the  axe  han- 
dle, and  we  thought  a  native  only  could  understand  a 
native,  so  we  took  the  .famous  convert  around  to  see 
Yanni.  He  went  into  Yanni's  office,  and  Mr.  L.  and 


3oo 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


myself  sat  out  in  the  garden  under  the.  orange  trees. 
After  a  few  minutes  Yanni  called  out,  "  Come  in,  be 
preferred,  your  excellencies !  I  have  found  it  all  out. 
I  understand  the  case."  We  went  in  and  climbed 
up  upon  the  platform,  next  the  desk  in  the  office. 
The  Maronite  candidate  for  the  church  sat  smiling,  as 
if  he  thought  he  would  now  be  received  at  once. 
Yanni  went  on,  "  I  understand  the  case  exactly. 
This  man  is  a  son  of  a  Sheikh  in  Dunniyeh.  He  is 
in  a  deadly  quarrel  with  his  father  and  brothers 
about  the  property,  and  says  that  if  we  will  give  him 
the  protection  of  the  American  Consulate,  he  will  go 
home,  kill  his  father  and  brothers,  seize  all  the  prop- 
erty, and  then  come  down  and  join  the  church,  and 
live  in  Tripoli !  "  We  were  astounded,  but  the  brutal 
fellow  turned  to  us  and  said,  "  yes,  and  I  will  then 
make  all  the  village  Protestants,  and  if  I  fail,  then  cut 
my  head  off!  "  We  told  him  that  if  he  did  anything 
of  that  kind,  we  would  try  to  get  him  hung,  and  the 
American  Consulate  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
him.  "  Very  well,"  said  he,  "  I  have  made  you  a 
fair  offer,  and  if  you  don't  accept  it,  I  have  nothing" 
more  to  say."  We  rebuked  him  sharply,  and  gave 
him  a  sermon  which  he  did  not  relish,  for  he  said  he 
was  in  haste,  and  bade  us  a  most  polite  good  morn- 
ing He  was  what  I  should  call  an  Adullamite. 

A  Greek  priest  in  the  village  of  Barbara  once 
took  me  aside,  to  a  retired  place  behind  his  house, 
and  told  me  that  he  had  a  profound  secret  to  tell  me. 
He  wished  to  become  a  Protestant  and  make  the 
whole  village  Protestant,  but  on  one  condition,  that  I 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


301 


would  get  him  a  hat,  a  coat,  and  pantaloons,  put  a 
flag-staff  on  his  house,  and  have  him  appointed  Amer- 
ican Consul.  I  told  him  the  matter  of  the  hat,  coat 
and  pantaloons  he  could  attend  to  at  but  slight  ex- 
pense, but  I  had  no  right  to  make  Consuls  and  erect 
flagstaffs.  Then  he  said  he  could  not  become  Pro- 
testant. 

In  1866,  a  man  named  Yusef  Keram  rebelled 
against  the  Government  of  Lebanon  and  was  captur- 
ed and  exiled..  The  day  he  was  brought  into  Beirut, 
a  tall  rough  looking  mountaineer  called  at  my  house. 
He  was  armed  with  a  musket  and  sword,  besides 
pistols  and  dirks.  After  taking  a  seat,  he  said,  "  I 
wish  to  become  Angliz  and  American."  "What  for," 
said  I.  "Only  that  I  would  be  honored  with  the 
honorable  religion."  "  Do  you  know  anything  about 
it?"  "  Of  course  not.  How  should  I  know?"  "  Don't 
you  know  better  than  to  follow  a  religion  you  know 
nothing  about  ?"  "  But  I  can  learn."  "  How  do 
you  know  but  what  we  worship  the  devil  ?  ''  "  No 
matter.  Whatever  you  worship,  I  will  worship."  I 
then  asked  him  what  he  came  for.  He  said  he  was 
in  the  rebel  army,  was  captured,  escaped  and  fought 
again,  and  now  feared  he  should  be  shot,  so  he 
wanted  to  become  Angliz  and  American.  I  told  him 
he  need  have  no  fear,  as  the  Pasha  had  granted  par- 
don to  all.  "  Is  that  so  ?  "  "  Yes,  it  is."  On  hearing 
this  he  said  he  had  business  to  look  after,  and  bade 
me  good  evening. 

But  you  will  be  tired  of  hearing  about  the  Adul- 
lamites.  If  those  who  came  to  David  were  like  the 


302 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


discontented  and  debtors  who  come  to  us,  he  must 
have  been  tired  too.  So  many  suspicious  characters 
come  to  us,  that  we  frequently  ask  men,  when  they 
come  professing  great  zeal  for  the  gospel,  whether 
they  have  killed  anybody,  or  stolen,  or  quarrelled  with 
any  one  ?  And  it  is  not  always  easy  to  find  out  the 
truth.  If  fifty  men  turn  Protestants  in  a  village, 
perhaps  five  or  ten  will  'stand  firm,  and  the  rest  go 
back,  and  frequently  all  go  back. 

But  the  rain  is  coming  down  and  we  will  hasten 
to  the  Meena  to  Uncle  S.'s  house,  where  we  can  rest 
after  this  wearisome  and  hasty  journey  from  Safita. 
For  your  sake  I  am  glad  that*  we  took  comfortable 
bedding  and  bedsteads  with  us.  It  costs  a  few  pias- 
tres more  to  hire  a  baggage  animal,  but  it  is  cheaper 
in  the  end.  At  one  time  I  was  going  on  a  hard  • 
journey,  and  I  thought  I  would  be  economical,  so  I 
took  only  my  horse  and  a  few  articles  in  my  khurj  or 
saddle  bags,  with  a  little  boy  to  show  me  the  road 
and  take  care  of  my  horse.  When  I  reached  the 
village,  I  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  man  said  to  be  a 
Protestant.  He  lived  in  the  most  abject  style,  and  I 
soon  found  by  his  bad  language  towards  his  family 
and  his  neighbors  that  he  needed  all  the  preaching 
I  could  give  him  that  evening.  There  was  only  one 
room  in  the  house,  and  that  was  small.  By  nine 
o'clock  the  mother  and  the  children  had  lain  down 
on  a  mat  to  sleep,  and  the  neighbors  who  came  in 
were  beginning  to  doze.  I  was  very  weary  with  a 
long  ride  on  a  hot  August  day,  and  asked  mine  host 
where  I  should  lie  down  to  sleep.  He  led  me  to  a 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  ^03 

little  elevated  platform  on  the  back  side  of  the  room, 
where  a  bed  was  spread  for  me.  The  dim  oil  lamp 
showed  me  that  the  bed  and  covering  were  neither 
of  them  clean,  but  I  was  too  weary  to  spend  much 
time  in  examining  them,  and  after  spreading  my  lin- 
en handkerchief  over  the  pillow,  I  tried  to  sleep.  But 
this  could  not  be  done.  Creeping  things,  great  and 
small,  were  crawling  over  me  from  head  to  foot. 
There  was  a  hole  in  the  wall  near  my  head,  and  the 
bright  moonlight  showed  what  was  going  on.  Fleas, 
bugs,  ants,  (attracted  by  the  bread  in  my  khurj,)  and 
more  horrible  still,  swarms  of  lice  covered  the  bed, 
and  my  clothing.  I  could  stand  it  no  longer. 
Gathering  up  my  things,  and  walking  carefully  across 
the  floor  to  keep  from  stepping  on  the  sleeping  fam- 
ily, I  reached  the  door.  But  it  was  fastened  with  an 
Arab  lock  and  a  huge  wooden  key,  and  could  only 
be  opened  by  a  violent  shaking  and  rattling.  This, 
with  the  creaking  of  the  hinges,  woke  up  my  host, 
who  sprung  up  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  I  told 
him  I  had  decided  to  journey  on  by  moonlight.  It 
was  then  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  on  I  rode, 
so  weary,  that  when  I  reached  Jebaa  at  ten  o'clock, 
I  was  obliged  to  go  to  bed.  I  did  not  recover  from 
the  onset  of  the  vermin  for  weeks. 

I  have  known  missionaries  to  travel  without  beds, 
tents  or  bedsteads,  and  to  spend  weary  days  and 
sleepless  nights,  so  as  to  be  quite  unfitted  for  their 
great  work  of  preaching  to  the  people.  If  you  ever 
grow  up  to  become  a  missionary,  I  hope  you  will  live 
as  simply  as  you  can,  but  be  careful  of  your  health 


304 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


and  try  to  live  as  long  as  you  can,  for  the  sake  of  the 
people  you  are  working  for,  and  the  Lord  who  sends 
you  forth.  It  is  not  good  economy  for  a  missionary 
to  become  a  martyr  to  studying  Arabic,  or  to  poor 
food,  or  to  exhausting  modes  of  travelling.  One  can 
kill  himself  in  a  short  time,  if  he  wishes,  on  missionary 
ground,  but  he  could  have  done  that  at  home  with- 
out the  great  expense  of  coming  here  to  do  it,  and 
besides,  that  is  not  what  a  missionary  goes  out  for. 
He  ought  to  live  as  long  as  he  can.  He  should  have 
a  dry  house,  in  a  healthy  location,  good  food,  and 
proper  conveniences  for  safe  travelling. 

How  pleasant  it  is  to  hear  that  sweet  toned  bell ! 
Let  us  climb  up  to  the  roof  and  read  the  inscription 
on  it.  "  From  little  Sabbath  School  Children  in 
America  to  the  Mission  Church  in  Tripoli,  Syria."  It 
was  sent  in  1862  by  the  children  in  Fourth  Avenue 
Church,  New  York,  and  in  Newark,  Syracuse,  Owego, 
Montrose  and  other  places. 

The  Moslems  abhor  bells.  They  say  bells  draw 
together  evil  spirits.  We  are  not  able  yet  to  have  a 
bell  in  Hums,  on  account  of  the  Moslem  opposition. 
They  do  not  use  bells,  but  have  men  called  Muezzins 
stationed  on  the  little  balconies  around  xthe  top  of 
the  tall  minarets,  to  call  out  five  times  a  day  to  the 
people  to  come  to  prayer.  They  select  men  and 
boys  with  high  clear  voices,  and  at  times  their  voices 
sound  very  sweetly  in  the  still  evening.  They  say, 
"  There  is  no  God  but  God."  That  is  true.  Then 
they  add,  "and  Mohammed  is  the  Apostle  of  God," 
and  that  is  not  true.  As  the  great  historian  Gibbon 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  305 

said  ;  these  words  contain  an  '"  eternal  truth  and  an 
eternal  lie." 

The  Moslems  are  obliged  to  pray  five  times 
every  day,  wherever  they  may  be.  At  home,  in 
their  shops,  in  the  street,  or  on  a  journey,  whenever 
the  appointed  time  arrives,  they  fall  on  their  knees, 
and  go  through  with  the  whole  routine  of  prayers 
and  bodily  prostrations.  One  day  several  Moslems 
called  on  us  in  Tripoli,  at  the  eighth  hour  of  the  day 
(about  2  o'clock  P.  M.),  and  after  they  had  been  sit- 
ting some  time  engaged  in  conversation,  one  of  them 
arose  and  said  to  his  companions,  "  I  must  pray." 
They  all  asked,  "  Why?  It  is  not  the  hour  of  pray- 
er." "Because,"  said  he,  "when  I  went  to  the 
mosque  at  noon  to  pray,  I  had  an  ink-spot  on  my 
finger  nail,  and  did  not  perceive  it  until  after  I  came 
out,  and  hence  my  prayer  was  of  no  account.  I 
have  just  now  scraped  it  off,  and  must  repeat  my  noon 
prayer."  So  saying,  he  spread  his  cloak  upon  the 
floor,  and  then  kneeling  upon  it  with  his  face  to- 
wards Mecca,  commenced  his  prayers,  while  his  com- 
panions amused  themselves  by  talking  about  his 
ceremonial  strictness.  One  of  them  said  to  me, 
"  He  thinks  he  is  holy,  but  if  you  could  see  the 
inside  of  him,  you  would  find  it  black  as  pitch ! " 
He  kept  his  head  turned  to  hear  what  was  being 
said,  and  after  he  had  finished,  disputed  a  remark 
one  of  them  had  made  while  he  was  praying.  Such 
people  worship  God  with  their  lips,  while  their  hearts 
are  far  from  him. 

Moslems  have  a  great  horror  of  swine.      They 


3o6  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

think  us  barbarians  to  eat  ham  or  pork.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1866,  the  Moslems  of  Beirut  were  keeping 
the  Fast  of  Ramadan.  For  a  whole  month  of  each 
year  they  can  eat  and  drink  nothing  between  sun- 
rise and  sunset,  and  they  become  very  cross  and  irri- 
table. In  Hums,  some  Moslems  saw  a  dog  eating  a 
bone  in  Ramadan,  and  killed  him  because  he  would 
not  keep  the  fast.  They  fast  all  day  and  feast  all 
night.  Ramadan  is  really  a  great  nocturnal  feast, 
but  it  is  hard  for  the  working  people  to  wait  until 
night  before  beginning  the  feast.  During  that  fast 
of  1866,  a  Maronite  fellah  came  into  Beirut  driving 
a  herd  of  swine  to  the  market.  Now  of  all  sights  in 
the  world,  the  sight  of  swine  is  to  an  orthodox  Mos- 
lem the  most  intolerable,  and  especially  in  the  holy 
month  of  Ramadan.  Even  in  ordinary  times,  when 
swine  enter  the  city,  the  Moslems  gather  up  their 
robes,  turn  their  backs  and  shout,  "  hub  hub,"  "  hub 
hub,"  and  if  the  hogs  do  not  hasten  along,  the  "  hub 
hub,"  is  very  apt  to  become  a  hubbub.  On  the 
28th  of  that  holy  month,  a  large  herd  entered  Beirut 
on  the  Damascus  road.  The  Moslems  saw  them, 
and  forthwith  a  crowd  of  Moslem  young  men  and 
boys  hastened  to  the  fray.  A  few  days  before,  the 
Maronite  Yusef  Keram  had  entered  the  city  amid 
the  rejoicings  of  the  Maronites.  These  swine,  whom 
the  Moslems  called  "  Christian  Khanzir,"  should 
meet  a  different  reception.  Their  wrath  overcame 
their  prejudice.  The  Maronite  swine-drivers  were 
dispersed  and  the  whole  herd  were  driven  on  the 
run  up  the  Assur  with  shouts  of  derision,  and  pelted 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


307 


with  stones  and  clubs.  "  You  khanzir,  you  Maron- 
ite,  you  Keram,  out  with  you ! "  and  the  air  rang 
with  shouts  mingled  with  squeals  and  grunts.  I  saw 
the  crowd  coming.  It  gathered  strength  as  it  ap- 
proached Bab  Yakoob,  where  the  white  turbaned 
faithful  rose  from  their  shops  and  stables  to  join  in 
the  persecution  of  the  stampeding  porkers.  "  May 
Allah  cut  off  their  days  !  Curses  on  their  grand- 
father's beard  !  Curses  on  the  father  of  their  owner ! 
Hub  hub!  Allah  deliver  us  from  their  contamina- 
tion ! "  were  the  cries  of  the  crowd  as  they  rushed 
along.  The  little  boys  were  laughing  and  having  a 
good  time,  and  the  men  were  breathing  out  wrath 
and  tobacco  smoke.  Alas,  for  the  poor  swine ! 
What  became  of  them  I  could  not  tell,  but  the  last 
I  saw,"  was  the  infuriated  crowd  driving  them  into 
the  Khan  of  Muhayeddin  near  by,  where  one  knows 
not  what  may  have  happened  to  them.  I  hope  they 
did  not  steal  the  pork  and  eat  it  "  on  the  sly,"  as 
the  Bedawin  did  at  Mt.  Sinai,  who  threw  away  the 
hams  the  travellers  wefe  carrying  for  provisions,  and 
declared  that  their  camels  should  not  be  defiled 
with  the  unclean  beast !  The  travellers  were  very 
indignant  at  such  a  loss,  but  thought  it  was  too  bad 
to  injure  the  feelings  of  the  devout  Moslems,  and 
said  no  more.  What  was  their  horror  and  wrath 
to  hear  the  next  night  that  the  Bedawin  were  seen 
cooking  and  eating  their  hams  at  midnight,  when 
they  thought  no  one  would  see  them  ! 

Do  the  Syrian  people  all  smoke  ?     Almost  all  of 
them.     They   speak    of  it   as    "drinking   a    pipe," 


3o8  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

'  drinking  a  cigar,"  and  you  would  think  that  they 
look  upon  tobacco  as  being  as  necessary  to  them  as 
water.  Old  and  young  men,  women  and  even 
children  smoke,  smoke  while  they  work  or  rest,  while 
at  home  or  journeying,  and  measure  distances  by 
their  pipes.  I  was  travelling,  and  asked  a  man  how 
far  it  was  to  the  next  village.  He  said  about  two 
pipes  of  tobacco  distant !  I  found  it  to  be  nearly  an 
hour,  or  three  miles.  The  Orientals  spend  so  much 
time  in  smoking,  that  some  one  has  said  "  the  Mos- 
lems came  into  power  with  the  Koran  in  one  hand, 
and  the  sword  in  the  other,  but  will  go  out  with  the 
Koran  in  one  hand  and  the  pipe  in  the  other!" 

Here  we  are  on  the  sandy  beach.  What  myriads 
of  sea  shells,  and  what  beautiful  colors  they  have.  And 
here  are  sponges  without  number,  but  they  are  worth- 
less. There  on  the  sea  are  the  little  sloops  of  the 
sponge  fishers.  They  are  there  through  the  whole  sum- 
mer and  the  fishers  dive  down  into  the  sea  where  the 
water  is  from  ipo  to  200  feet  deep,  and  walk  around 
on  the  bottom  holding  their  breath,  and  when  they  can 
bear  it  no  longer  pull  the  cord  which  is  tied  around 
the  waist,  and  then  their  companions  draw  them  up. 
They  do  not  live  long,  as  it  is  very  hard  and  unnatural 
labor.  Sometimes  they  are  killed  by  sharks  or  other 
sea  monsters.  One  of  them  told  me  that  he  was 
once  on  the  bottom,  and  just  about  to  pick  up  a 
beautiful  white  sponge,  when  he  saw  a  great  monster 
with  huge  claws  and  arms  and  enormous  eyes  com- 
ing towards  him,  and  he  barely  escaped  being  de- 
voured. At  another  time,  the  men  in  the  boat  felt  a 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


309 


sudden  jerk  on  the  rope  and  pulled  in,  when  they 
found  only  the  man's  head,  arms  and  chest  on  it,  the 
rest  of  his  body  having  been  devoured  by  some  great 
fish  or  sea  animal.  The  sponges  grow  on  rocks, 
pebbles  or  shells,  and  some  of  them  are  of  great 
value.  It  is  difficult  to  get  the  best  ones  here,  as 
the  company  who  hire  the  divers  export  all  the 
good  ones  to  Europe. 


V. 

Word  has  come  that  there  is  cholera  in  Odessa, 
so  that  all  the  Russian  steamers  going  to  Beirut  will 
be  in  quarantine.  It  will  not  be  pleasant  to  spend 
a  week  in  the  Beirut  quarantine,  so  we  will  keep  our 
baggage  animals  and  go  down  by  land.  It  is  two 
long  days  of  nine  hours  each,  and  you  will  be  weary 
enough.  Bidding  good-bye  to  our  dear  friends  here 
and  wishing  them  God's  blessing  in  their  difficult 
work  among  such  people,  away  we  go  !  Yanni  and 
Uncle  S.  and  some  of  the  teachers  will  accompany  us 
a  little  way,  according  to  the  Eastern  custom,  and 
then  we  dismount  and  kiss  them  all  on  both  cheeks, 
and  pursue  our  monotonous  way  along  the  coast, 
sometimes  riding  over  rocky  capes  and  promontories 
and  then  on  the  sand  and  pebbles  close  to  the  roaring 
surf. 

See  how  many  monasteries  there  are  on  the  sides 
of  Lebanon!  Between  Tripoli  and  Beirut  there  are 
about  a  hundred.  The  men  who  live  in  them  are 


310  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

called  monks,  who  make  a  vow  never  to  marry,  and 
spend  their  lives  eating  and  drinking  the  fruits  of 
other  men's  labors.  They  own  almost  all  the  valua- 
ble land  in  this  range  of  mountains  for  fifty  miles, 
and  the  fellaheen  live  as  "tenants  at  will''  on  their 
estates.  When  a  man  is  lazy  or  unfortunate,  if  he 
is  not  married,  his  first  thought  is  to  become  a  monk. 
They  are  the  most  corrupt  and  worthless  vagabonds 
in  the  land,  and  the  day  must  come  before  long, 
when  the  monasteries  and  convents  will  be  abolished 
and  their  property  be  given  back  to  the  people  to 
whom  it  justly  belongs. 

We  are  now  riding  along  by  the  telegraph  wires. 
It  seems  strange  to  see  Morse's  telegraph  on  this 
old  Phenician  coast,  and  it  will  seem  stranger 
still  when  we  reach  Beirut,  to  receive  a  daily  morn- 
ing paper  printed  in  Arabic,  with  telegrams  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  ! 

In  July,  a  woman  came  to  the  telegraph  office  in 
Beirut,  asking,  "  Where  is  the  telegraph  ?  "  The 
Clerk,  Yusef  Effendi,  asked  her,  "  Whom  do  you 
want,  the  Director,  the  Operator,  or  the  Kawass  ?  " 
She  said,  "  I  want  Telegraph  himself,  for  my  hus- 
band has  sent  me  word  that  he  is  in  prison  in  Zahleh 
and  wants  me  to  come  with  haste,  and  I  heard  that 
Telegraph  takes  people  quicker  than  any  one  else. 
Please  tell  me  the  fare,  and  send  me  as  soon  as 
possible !  The  Effendi  looked  at  her,  and  took  her 
measure,  and  then  said,  "You  are  too  tall  to  go  by 
telegraph,  so  you  will  have  to  go  on  a  mule.'*  The  poor 
ignorant  woman  went  away  greatly  disappointed. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAP  TER,  3 1 1 

Another  old  woman,  whose  son  was  drafted  into 
the  Turkish  army,  wished  to  send  him  a  pair  of  new 
shoes,  so  she  hung  them  on  the  telegraph  wire.  A 
way-worn  foot  traveller  coming  along  soon  after  took 
down  the  new  shoes  and  put  them  on,  and  hung 
his  old  ones  in  their  place.  The  next  day  the  old 
lady  returned  and  finding  the  old  shoes,  said, 
"  Mushullah,  Mohammed  has  received  his  new  shoes 
and  sent  back  his  old  ones  to  be  repaired." 

The  telegraph  has  taught  all  the  world  useful 
lessons,  and  the  Syrians  have  learned  one  lesson 
from  it  which  is  of  great  value.  When  they  write 
letters  they  use  long  titles,  and  flowery  salutations, 
so  that  a  whole  page  will  be  taken  up  with  these 
empty  formalities,  leaving  only  a  few  lines  at  the 
end,  or  in  a  postscript,  for  the  important  business. 
But  when  they  .send  a  telegram  and  have  to  pay  for 
every  word,  they  leave  out  the  flowery  salutations, 
and  send  only  what  is  necessary. 

The  following  is  a  very  common  way  of  beginning 
an  Arabic  letter : 

"  To  the  presence  of  the  affectionate  and  the 
most  distinguished,  the  honorable  and  most  inge- 
nuous Khowadja,  the  honored,  may  his  continuance 
be  prolonged! " 

"  After  presenting  the  precious  pearls  of  affec- 
tion, the  aromatic  blossoms  of  love,  and  the  increase 
of  excessive  longing,  after  the  intimate  presence  of 
the  light  of  your  rising  in  prosperity,  we  would  say 
that  in  a  most  blessed  and  propitious  hour  your 
precious  letter  honored  us,"  etc. 


3  1 2  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARA  BS. 

That  would  cost  too  much  to  be  sent  by  tele- 
graph. Precious  pearls  and  aromatic  blossoms 
would  become  expensive  luxuries  at  two  cents  a 
word.  So  they  have  to  be  reserved  for  letters,  if 
any  one  has  time  to  write  them. 

Here  we  come  to  the  famous  Dog  River.  You 
will  read  in  books  about  this  river  and  its  old  in- 
scriptions. If  you  have  not  forgotten  your  Latin, 
you  can  read  a  lesson  in  Latin  which  was  written 
here  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago.  There  you  can 
see  the  words. 

Imp.  Caes.  M.  Aurelius 
Antoninus  Pius  Felix  Augustus 
Par.  Max.  Brit.  Max.  Germ.  Maximus 

Pontifex  Masimus 
Montibus  Imminentibus 
etc.  etc. 

This  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius,  must  have  cut 
this  road  through  the  rocks  about  the  year  173  A. 
D.  But  there  is  another  inscription  higher  up,  with 
arrow-headed  characters  and  several  other  tablets. 
They  are  Assyrian  and  Egyptian.  One  of  the  As- 
syrian tablets  was  cut  by  Sennacherib  2500  years 
ago,  and  one  of  the  Egyptian  by  Sesostris,  king  of 
Egypt,  3100  years  ago.  Don't  you  feel  very  young 
and  small  in  looking  at  such  ancient  monuments  ? 
All  of  those  men  brought  their  armies  here,  and 
found  the  path  so  bad  along  the  high  precipice  over- 
hanging the  sea,  that  they  cut  a  road  for  their  horses 
and  chariots  in  the  solid  limestone  rock.  Just  think 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  313 

of  standing  where  Sennacherib  and  Alexander  the 
Great  passed  along  with  their  armies  ! 

What  a  steep  and  narrow  road !  We  will  dis- 
mount and  walk  over  this  dangerous  pass.  It  is  not 
pleasant  to  meet  camels  and  loaded  mules  on  such  a 
dizzy  precipice,  with  the  high  cliff  above,  and  the 
roaring  waves  of  the  sea  far  below  !  It  is  well  we 
dismounted.  Our  horses  are  afraid  of  those  camels 
carrying  long  timbers  balanced  on  their  backs.  Let 
us  turn  aside  and  wait  until  they  pass. 

Seeing  these  camels  reminds  me  of  what  I  saw 
here  in  1857.  I  was  coming  down  the  coast  from 
Tripoli  and  reached  the  top  of  this  pass,  in  the  nar- 
rowest part,  just  as  a  caravan  of  camels  were  coming 
from  the  opposite  direction.  I  turned  back  a  little, 
and  stood  close  under  the  edge  of  the  cliff  to  let  the 
camels  go  by.  They  were  loaded  with  huge  canvas 
sacks  of  tibn,  or  cut  straw,  which  hung  down  on 
both  sides,  making  it  impossible  to  pass  them  with- 
out stooping  very  low.  Just  then  I  heard  a  voice 
behind  me,  and  looking  around,  saw  a  shepherd 
coming  up  the  pass  with  his  flock  of  sheep.  He  was 
walking  ahead,  and  they  all  followed  on.  I  called  to 
him  to  go  back,  as  the  camels  were  coming  over  the 
pass.  He  said,  "  Ma  ahlaik,"  or  "  d9n't  trouble 
yourself,''  and  on  he  came.  When  he  met  the  cam- 
els, they  were  in  the  narrowest  part,  where  a  low 
stone  wall  runs  along  the  edge  of  the  precipice.  He 
stooped  down  and  stepped  upon  the  narrow  wall, 
calling  all  the  time  to  his  sheep,  who  followed  close 
upon  his  heels,  walking  in  single  file.  He  said, 
14 


314  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

"  tahl,  tahl,"  "  come,  come,"  and  then  made  a  shrill 
whirring  call,  which  could  be  heard  above  the  roar- 
ing of  the  waves  on  the  rocks  below.  It  was  won- 
derful to  see  how  closely  they  followed  the  shepherd. 
They  did  not  seem  to  notice  the  camels  on  the  one 
side,  or  the  abyss  on  the  other  side.  Had  they  left 
the  narrow  track,  they  would  either  have  been  trod- 
den down  by  the  heavily  laden  camels,  or  have  fall- 
en off  into  the  dark  waters  below.  But  they  were 
intent  on  following  their  shepherd.  They  heard  his 
voice,  and  that  was  enough.  The  cameleers  were 
shouting  and  screaming  to  their  camels  to  keep 
them  from  slipping  on  these  smooth  rocks,  but  the 
sheep  paid  no  attention  to  them.  They  knew  the 
shepherd's  voice.  They  had  followed  him  before, 
through  rivers  and  thickets,  among  rocks  and  sands, 
and  he  had  always  led  them  safely.  The  waves 
were  dashing  and  roaring  on  the  rocks  below,  but 
they  did  not  fear,  for  the  shepherd  was  going  on  be- 
fore. Had  one  of  those  sheep  turned  aside,  he 
would  have  lost  his  footing  and  been  destroyed  and 
thrown  the  whole  flock  into  confusion. 

You  know  why  I  have  told  you  this  story.  You 
know  that  Jesus  is  the  Good  Shepherd.  He  said, 
"  My  sheep. hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them  and 
they  follow  me."  Wherever  Jesus  leads  it  is  safe  for 
us  to  go.  How  many  boys  and  girls  there  are  who 
think  they  know  a  better  path  than  the  one  Jesus 
calls  them  to  follow.  There  are  "  stranger"  voices 
calling  on  every  side,  and  many  a  child  leaves  the 
path  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  turns  aside  to  hear 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


315 


what  they  would  say.  If  they  were  truly  lambs  of 
Jesus'  fold,  they  would  love  Him,  and  follow  Him  in 
calm  and  storm,  and  never  heed  the  voice  of  stran- 
gers. 

I  was  once  travelling  from  Duma  to  Akura,  high 
up  on  the  range  of  Lebanon.  It  was  a  hot  summer's 
day,  and  at  noon  I  stopped  to  rest  by  a  fountain. 
The  waste  water. of  the  fountain  ran  into  a  square 
stone  birkeh  or  pool,  and  around  the  pool  were  sev- 
eral shepherds  resting  with  their  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats.  The  shepherds  came  and  talked  with  me, 
and  sat  smoking  for  nearly  an  hour,  when  suddenly 
one  of  them  arose  and  walked  away  calling  to  his 
flock  to  follow  him.  The  flocks  were  all  mixed  to- 
gether, but  when  he  called,  his  sheep  and  goats  be- 
gan to  raise  their  heads  and  start  along  together  be- 
hind him.  He  kept  walking  along  and  calling,  until 
all  his  flock  had  gone.  The  rest  of  the  sheep  and 
goats  remained  quietly  as  though  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. Then  another  "  Rai,"  or  shepherd,  started 
up  in  another  direction,  calling  out  in  a  shrill 
voice,  and  his  sheep  followed  him.  They  knew  their 
shepherd's  voice.  Our  muleteers  were  talking  all  the 
time,  but  the  sheep  paid  no  attention  to  them.  They 
knew  one  voice,  and  would  follow  no  other. 

We  will  now  hasten  on  to  Beirut.  You  will  wish 
to  see  the  Female  Seminary,  and  the  Sabath  School 
and  the  Steam  Printing  Press,  and  many  of  the 
Beirut  Schools,  before  we  start  to  Abeih  again. 

Here  is  the  Female  Seminary.  There  are  a  hun- 
dred girls  here,  studying  Arabic  reading  and  writing, 


316  THE   WOMEN  OJf  THE  ARABS. 

geography,  arithmetic,  grammar,  botany,  physiology 
and  astronomy,  and  a  few  study  English,  French  and 
music.  But  the  great  study  is  the  Bible.  I  am  afraid 
that  very  few  schools  in  America  have  as  much  in- 
struction in  the  Bible,  as  the  girls  in  this  Seminary 
and  the  Sidon  Seminary  receive.  You  would  be 
surprised  to  hear  the  girls  recite  correctly  the  names 
of  all  the  patriarchs,  kings  and  prophets  of  the  Old 
Testament,  with  the  year  when  they  lived,  and  the 
date  of  all  the  important  events  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  History,  and  the  Life  of  Christ,  and  the 
travels  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  the  prophecies 
about  Christ  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  then  recite 
the  whole  Westminster  Assembly's  Catechism  in 
Arabic  !  I  have  given  out  one  hundred  and  twenty  Bi- 
bles and  Hymn  Books  as  rewards  to  children  in  the 
schools  in  Beirut,  who  have  learned  the  Shorter  Cat- 
echism perfectly  in  Arabic. 

Five  years  ago  there  was  a  girl  in  the  school  who 
was  once  very  rude  and  self-willed,  and  very  hard  to 
control.  She  had  a  poor  bed-ridden  brother  who 
had  been  a  cripple  for  years,  and  was  a  great  care  to 
the  family.  They  used  to  carry  him  out  in  the  gar- 
den in  fine  weather  and  lay  him  on  a  seat  under  the 
trees,  and  sometimes  his  sister  would  come  home 
from  the  school  and  read  to  him  from  the  Bible,  to 
which  h6  listened  with  great  delight.  Not  long  after 
this  he  died,  and  his  sister  was  sent  for  to  come 
home  to  the  funeral.  On  reaching  home  she  found 
a  large  crowd  of  women  assembled  from  all  that 
quarter  of  the  city,  shrieking  and  wailing  over  his 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


317 


death,  according  to  the  Oriental  custom.  When  A. 
the  little  girl  came  in,  one  of  the  women  from  an 
aristocratic  Greek  family  was. talking  in  a  loud  voice 
and  saying  that  it  was  wrong  for  any  person  to  go 
from  the  house  of  mourning  to  another  house  before 
first  going  home,  because  one  going  from  a  house  of 
mourning  would  carry  an  evilinflitence  with  her.  A. 
listened  and  then  spoke  out  boldly  before  the  sev- 
enty women,  "  How  long  will  you  hold  on  to  these 
foolish  superstitions  ?  Beirut  is  a  place  of  light  and 
civilization.  Where  can  you  find  any  such  teaching 
as  this  in  the  gospel?  It  is  time  for  us  to  give  up 
such  superstitions."  The  old  woman  asked,  "  Where 
did  that  girl  learn  these  things  ?  Truly  she  is  right. 
These  things  are  superstitions,  but  they  will  not  die 
until  we  old  women  die"  It  required  a  great  deal  of 
courage  in  A.  to  speak  out  so  boldly,  when  her  own 
brother  had  died,  but  all  felt  that  she  spoke  the 
truth,  and  no  one  rebuked  her. 

Near  by  the  house  of  A.  is  another  beautiful 
house  surrounded  by  gardens,  and  ornamented  in  the 
most  expensive  manner.  A  little  girl  from  this  fam- 
ily was  attending  the  school  in  1867.  Her  name  was 
Fereedy.  She  was  a  boarder  and  the  best  behaved 
girl  in  the  school.  One  day  during  vacation,  her  moth- 
er came  to  Rufka  and  said,  "  What  have  you  done 
to  my  little  daughter  Fereedy  ?  She  came  home  last 
Saturday  with  her  sister,  and  at  once  took  the  whole 
care  of  the  little  children,  so  that  I  had  no  trouble 
with  them.  And  when  night  came  she  put  her  lit- 
tle sisters  to  bed  and  prayed  with  them  all,  and  then 


318  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

in  the  morning  she  prayed  with  them  again.  I  never 
saw  such  a  child.  She  is  like  a  little  angel."  The 
mother  is  of  the  Greek  sect,  and  the  little  girl  was 
only  twelve  years  old. 

And  here  is  a  story  about  another  of  the 
superstitions- of  the  fellaheen,  and  what  a  little  girl 
taught  the  people  about  them.  This  little  girl  named 
L.  went  with  her  father  to  spend  the  summer  in  a 
mountain  village,  where  the  people  had  a  strange 
superstition  about  an  oak  tree.  One  day  she  went 
out  to  walk  and  came  to  the  great  oak  tree  which 
stood  alone  on  the  mountain  side.  You  know  that 
the  Canaanites  used  to  have  idols  under  the  green 
trees  in  ancient  times.  When  L.  reached  the  tree, 
she  found  the  ground  covered  with  dead  branches 
which  had  fallen  from  .the  tree.  Now,  wood  is  very 
scarce  and  costly  in  Syria,  and  the  people  are  very 
poor,  so  that  she  wondered  to  see  the  wood  left  to 
rot  on  the  ground,  and  asked  the  people  why  they 
did  not  use  it  for  fuel.  They  said  they  dared  not,  as 
the  tree  belonged  to  Moses  the  Prophet,  and  he  pro- 
tected the  tree,  and  if  any  one  took  the  wood,  they 
would  fall  dead.  She  said,  "  Moses  is  in  heaven, 
and  does  not  live  in  oak  trees,  and  if  he  did,  he  is  a 
good  man,  and  would  not  hurt  me  for  burning  up  old 
dry  sticks."  So  she  asked  them  if  she  might  have 
the  wood  ?  They  said,  "  yes,  if  you  dare  to  take  it, 
for  we  are  afraid  to  touch  it."  So  she  went  to  the 
tree  and  gathered  up  as  much  as  she  could  carry,  and 
took  it  home.  The  people  screamed  when  they  saw 
her,  and  tohd  her  to  drop  it  or  it  would  kill  her,  but 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


319 


en  she  went,  and  afterwards  went  back  and  brought 
the  rest.  She  then  talked  with  the  ignorant  women, 
and  her  father  told  them  about  the  folly  of  their  su- 
perstitions, and  read  to  them  in  the  Bible  about 
Moses,  and  they  listened  with  great  attention. 
I  have  often  thought  I  should  like  to  go  to  that  vil- 
lage, and  see  whether  the  people  now  leave  the  dead 
branches  under  Moses'  oak,  or  use  them  for  fuel  du- 
ring the  heavy  snow  storms  of  winter. 


PART    VI. 

Here  we  are,  home  again  at  Abeih.  Here  are 
Asaad  and  Khalil,  and  several  others.  I  asked  Khalil 
one  day  to  write  out  for  me  a  list  of  all  the  games  the 
boys  play  in  Abeih,  and  he  brought  me  a  list  of 
twenty-eight  different  ones,  and  said  there  were  many 
more. 

I.  The  first  is  called  Khatim  or  the  Ring.  A 
boy  puts  a  ring  on  the  back  of  his  hand,  tosses  it 
and  catches  it  on  the  back  of  his"  fingers.  If  it  falls 
on  the  middle  finger,  he  shakes  it  to  the  forefinger, 
and  then  he  is  Sultan,  and  appoints  a  Vizier,  whom 
he  commands  to  beat  the  other  boys.  Then  the 
boys  all  sing, 

Ding,  dong,  turn  the  wheel, 

Wind  the  purple  thread  : 

Spin  the  white  and  spin  the  red, 

Wind  it  on  the  reel : 

Silk  and  linen  as  well  as  you  can, 

Weave  a  robe  for  the  Great  Sultan. 


32O  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

'  II.  Killeh.     Like  the  game  of  shooting  marbles. 

III.  Owal  Howa.     The  same  as  leap  frog. 

IV.  Biz  Zowaia.     Cat  in  the  corner. 

V.  Taia  ya  Taia.     All  the  boys  stand  in  a  row, 
and  one  in  front  facing  them,  who  calls  out  Taia  ya 
Taia.     They   all   then   run   after  him  and  hit  him. 
He  then  hops  on  one  foot  as  if  lame,  and  catches  one 
of  them,  who  takes  his  place. 

VI.  El  Manya.     Hig  tig. 

VII.  Bil  Kobbeh.     A  circle  of  boys  stand  with 
their  heads  bowed.     Another  circle  stand    outside, 
and  on  a  given,  signal  try  to  mount  on  the  backs  of  the 
inner  circle  of  boys.     If  they  succeed  they  remain 
standing  in  this  way ;  if  not,  the  boy  who   failed 
must  take  the  inside  place. 

VIII.  Ghummaida.     Blind-man's-buff. 

IX.  Tabeh.     Base  ball  and  drop  ball. 

X.  Kurd  Murboot  or  Tied  Monkey.     A  rope  is 
tied  to  a  peg  in  the  ground,  and  one  boy  holds  it 
fast.     The   others   tie  knots  in  their  handkerchiefs 
and  beat  him.     If  he  catches  them  without  letting 
go  his  hold  on  the  rope,  they  take  his  place. 

XL  Shooha  or  Hawk.  Make  a  swing  on  the  limb 
of  a  tree.  A  boy  leans  on  the  swing  and  runs  around 
among  the  boys,  until  he  catches  one  to  take  his  place. 

XII.  Joora.     Shooting  marbles  into  a  joora  or 
hole  in  the  ground. 

XIII.  Khubby  Mukhzinak.     "Pebble  pebble." 
One  boy  goes  around  and  hides  a  pebble  in  the  hand 
of  one  of  the  circle  and  asks  "  pebble,  pebble,  who's 
got  the  pebble.''     This  is  like  "  Button,  button." 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


321 


Then  there  are  other  games  like  chequers  and 
"  Morris,"  chess,  and  games  which  are  used  in  gam- 
bling, which  you  will  not  care  to  hear  about. 

Sometimes  when  playing,  they  sing  a  song  which 
I  have  translated  f 

I  found  a  black  crow, 
With  a  cake  in  his  maw, 
I  asked  him  to  feed  me, 
He  cried  caw,  caw. 

A  chicken  I  found 
With  a  loaf  of  bread— 
I  asked  him  to  feed  me, 
He  cried,  enough  said. 

And  an  eagle  black 
With  a  beam  on  his  back 
Said  from  Egypt  I  come 
And  he  cried  clack,  clack. 

So  you  see  the  Arab  boys  are  as  fond  of  plays 
and  songs  as  American  boys.  They  have  scores  of 
songs  about  gazelles,  and  pearls,  and  Sultans,  and 
Bedawin,  andGhouls,  and  the  "  Ghuz,"  and  the  Evil 
Eye,  and  Arab  mares  and  Pashas. 

A  few  days  ago  a  Druze,  named  Sheikh  Ali, 
called  upon  me  and  recited  to  me  a  strange  song, 
which  reminded  me  of  the  story  of  "  Who  killed 
Cock  Robin,"  and  "  The  House  that  Jack  built."  In 
some  of  the  Arab  villages  where  fleas  abound,  the 
people  go  at  times  to  the  tenniir  or  oven,  (which  is 
like  a  great  earthen  jar  sunken  in  the  ground,)  to 
shake  off  the  fleas  into  the  fire.  The  story  which  I 
have  translated  goes  thus :  A  brilliant  bug  and  a 
noble  flea  once  went  to  the  oven  to  shake  off  the 
14* 


322  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

ignoble  fleas  from  their  garments  into  the  fire.  But 
alas,  alas,  the  noble  flea  lost  his  footing,  fell  into  the 
fire  and  was  consumed.  Then  the  brilliant  bug 
began  to  weep  and  mourn,  saying, 

Alas  !  Ah  me  ! 

The  Noble  Flea ! 
While  he  was  thus  weeping, 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping, 
A  glossy  raven  overhead, 
FJew  swiftly  down  and  gently  said, 
Oh  my  friend,  oh  brilliant  bug, 
Why  are  you  weeping  on  (he  rug  ? 
The  bug  replied,  O  glossy  raven, 
With  your  head  all  shorn  and  shaven, 
I  am  now  weeping, 
And  sad  watch  keeping, 

Over,  Ah  me  ! 

The  Noble  Flea. 
The  raven  he, 
Wept  over  the  flea, 
And  flew  to  a  green  palm  tree — 
And  in  grief,  dropped  a  feather, 
Like  snow  in  winter  weather. 
The  palm  tree  said  my  glossy  raven, 
Why  do  you  look  so  craven, 
Why  did  you  drop  a  feather, 
Like  snow  in  winter  weather? 
The  raven  said, 
The  flea  is  dead  ! 
I  saw  the  brilliant  bug  weeping, 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping, 

Alas,  Alas,  Ah  me  ! 

Over  the  Noble  Flea. 
Then  the  green  Palm  tree, 
Wept  over  the  noble  flea. 
Said  he,  The  flea  is  dead  !   - 
And  all  his  branches  shed  ! 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  323 

The  Shaggy  Wolf  he  strayed, 
To  rest  in  the  Palm  tree's  shade ' 
He  saw  the  branches  broken, 
Of  deepest  grief  the  token, 
And  said,  Oh  Palm  tree  green, 
What  sorrow  have  you  seen  ? 
What  noble  one  is  dead, 
That  you  your  branches  shed  ? 
He  said,  O  Wolf  so  shaggy, 
Living  in  rocks  so  craggy, 
I  saw  the  glossy  raven, 
Looking  forlorn  and  craven, 
Dropping  down  a  feather, 
Like  snow  in  winter  weather. 
He  saw  the  brilliant  bug  weeping, 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping, 

Alas,  Alas,  Ah  me  ! 

Over  the  Noble  Flea ! 
Then  the  Wolf  in  despair 
Shed  his  shaggy  Jiair. 
Then  the  River  clear  and  shining. 
Saw  the  wolf  in  sorrow  pining, 
Asked  him  why  in  sad  despair, 
He  had  shed  his  shaggy  hair  ? 
Said  the  Wolf,  Oh  River  shining, 
I  in  sorrow  deep  am  pining, 
For  the  Palm  tree  I  have  seen, 
Shedding  all  his  branches  green, 
And  he  saw  the  glossy  raven, 
Looking  so  forlorn  and  craven, 
As  he  dropped  a  downy  feather, 
Like  the  snow  in  winter  weather, 
He  saw  the  brilliant  bug  weeping. 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping, 

Alas,  Alas,  Ah  me, 
Over  the  Noble  Flea  ! 
Sadly  then  the  shining  River, 
Dried  its  waters  up  forever. 
Then  the  Shepherd  with  his  sheep. 


324 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Asked  the  River  once  so  deep, 
What  great  grief,  oh  shining  river, 
Dried  your  waters  up  forever  ? 
Said  the  River  once  so  shining, 
I  in  sorrow  deep  am  pining, 
Since  I  saw  the  wolfs  despair, 
When  he  shed  his  shaggy  hair, 
For  the  Palm  tree  he  had  seen, 
Shedding  all  his  branches  green, 
And  he  saw  the  glossy  raven, 
Looking  so  forlorn  and  craven, 
As  he  dropped  a  downy  feather, 
Like  the  snow  in  winter  weather 
He  saw  the  brilliant  bug  weeping, 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping. 

Alas,  Alas,  Ah  me  ! 

Over  the  Noble  Flea  ! 
Then  the  Shepherd  in  sorrow  deep, 
Tore  the  horns  from  all  his  sheep, 
Sadly  bound  them  on  his  head, 
Since  hejjheard  the  flea  was  dead. 
Then  the  Shepherd's  mother  dear, 
Asked  him  why  in  desert  drear, 
He  had  torn  in  sorrow  deep, 
All  the  horns  from  all  his  sheep, 
Sadly  bound  them  on  his  head, 
Just  as  though  a  friend  was  dead  ? 
Said  he,  'tis  because  the  River, 
Dried  his  waters  up  forever, 
Since  he  saw  the  Wolfs  despair, 
When  he  shed  his  shaggy  hair, 
For  the  Palm  tree  he  had  seen, 
Shedding  all  his  branches  green, 
For  he  saw  the  glossy  raven, 
Looking  so  forlorn  and  craven, 
As  he  dropped  a  downy  feather, 
Like  the  snow  in  winter  weather. 
He  saw  the  brilliant  bug  weeping, 
And  his  sad  watch  keeping, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 

Alas,  Alas,  Ah  me  ! 

Over  the  Noble  Flea ! 
Mother  sad  began  to  cry, 
Thrust  her  needle  in  her  eye  ; 
Could  no  kmger  see  her  thread, 
Since  she  heard  the  flea  was  dead 
Then  the  Father  grave  and  bland 
Hearing  this,  cut  off  his  hand  ; 
And  the  daughter,  when  she  hears, 
In  despair,  cuts  off  her  ears  ; 
And  through  the  town  deep  grief  is  spread, 
Because  they  heard  the  flea  was  dead. 


THE  NURSERY  RHYMES  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Who  is  that  singing  in  such  a  sweet  plaintive 
voice  in  the  room  beneath  our  porch  ?  It  is  the  Sit 
Leila,  wife  of  Sheikh  Abbas,  saying  a  lullaby  to  her 
little  baby  boy,  Sheikh  Fereed.  We  will  sit  on  the 
porch  in  this  bright  moonlight,  and  listen  while  she 
sings  : 

Whoever  loves  you  not, 

My  little  baby  boy  ; 

May  she  be  driven  from  her  house, 

And  never  know  a  joy  ! 

May  the  "  Ghuz  "  eat  up  her  husband, 

And  the  mouse  her  oil  destroy  ! 

This  is  not  very  sweet  language  for  a  gentle  lady 
to  use  to  a  little  infant  boy,  but  the  Druze  and 
Moslem  women  use  this  kind  of  imprecation  in 
many  of  their  nursery  songs.  Katrina  says  that 
many  of  the  Greek  and  Maronite  women  sing  them 
too.  This  young  woman  Laia,  who  sits  here,  has 
repeated  for  me  not  less  than  a  hundred  and  twenty 


326  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

of  these  nursery  rhymes,  songs  for  weddings,  funeral 
wails,  etc.  Some  of  the  imprecations  are  dreadful. 

They  seem  to  think  that  the  best  way  to  show 
their  love  to  their  babies,  is  to.  hate  those  who  do 
not  love  them. 

Im  Faris  says  she  has  heard  this  one  in  Hasbeiya, 
her  birthplace : 

O  sleep  to  God,  my  child,  my  eyes, 

Your  heart  no  ill  shall  know ; 

Who  loves  you  not  as  much  as  I, 

May  God  her  house  o'erthrow ! 
May  the  mosque  and  the  minaret,  dome  and  all, 
On  her  wicked  head  in  anger  fall  ! 
May  the  Arabs  rob  her  threshing  floor, 
And  not  one  kernel  remain  in  her  store. 

The  servant  girl  Nideh,  who  attends  the  Sit  Leila, 
thinks  that  her  turn  has  come,  and  she  is  singing, 

We've  the  white  and  the  red  in  our  baby's  cheeks, 
In  pounds  and  tons  to  spare  ; 
But  the  black  and  the  rust, 
And  the  mould  and  the  must, 
For  our  neighbor's  children  are  ! 

I  hope  she  does  not  refer  to  us  for  we  are  her 
nearest  neighbors.  But  in  reality  I  do  not  suppose 
that  they  actually  mean  what  they  sing  in  these 
Ishmaelitic  songs.  Perhaps  they  do  when  they  are 
angry,  but  they  probably  sing  them  ordinarily  with- 
out thinking  of  their  meaning  at  all. 

Sometimes  snakes  come  down  from  the  ceilings  of 
these  earth-roofed  houses,  and  terrify  the  people. 
At  other  times  government  horsemen  come  and  drag 
them  off  to  prison,  as  they  did  in  Safita.  These 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


327 


things  are  referred  to  in  this  next  song  which  Nideh 
is  singing : 

If  she  love  you  not,  my  boy, 
May  the  Lord  her  life  destroy  ! 
Seven  mules  tread  her  down, 
Drag  her  body  through  the  town  ! 
Snakes  that  from  the  ceiling  hang, 
Sting  her  dead  with  poison  fang  ! 
Soldiers  from  Damascus  city, 
Drag  her  off  and  shew  no  pity  ! 
Nor  release  her  for  a  day, 
Though  a  thousand  pounds  she  pay  ! 

That  is  about  enough  of  imprecations,  and  it 
will  be  pleasanter  to  listen  to  Katrina,  for  she  will 
sing  us  some  of  the  sweetest  of  the  Syrian  Nursery 
Songs. 

Sleep,  my  moon,  my  baby  sleep  ! 
The  Pleiades  bright  their  watches  keep. 
The  Libra  shines  so  fair  and  clear, 
The  stars  are  shining,  hush  my  dear ! 

There  is  not  much  music  in  the  tunes  they  sing 
to  these  words.  The  airs  generally  are  plaintive 
and  monotonous,  and  have  a  sad  and  weary  sound. 

Here  is  another : 

My  boy,  my  moon,  I  bid  you  good  morrow ! 
Who  wishes  you  peace  shall  know  no  sorrow  • 
Whom  you  salute,  his  earth  is  like  heaven, 
His  care  relieved,  his  sin  forgiven  ! 

She  says  that  last  line  is  extravagant,  and  I 
think  as  much.  The  next  one  is  a  Moslem  lullaby. 

O  Lord  of  the  heavens,  Knowing  and  Wise, 
Preserve  my  Ali,  the  light  of  my  eyes  ! 
Lord  of  high  heaven,  Compassionate  1 
Keep  my  dear  boy  in  every  state  ! 


.    328  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

This  one  is  used  by  the  women  of  all  the  sects, 
but  in  all  of  the  songs  the  name  is  changed  to  suit 
the  name  of  the  baby  to  whom  the  mother  is  singing : 

Ali,  your  eyes  are  sleeping, 
But  God's  eyes  never  sleep  : 
Their  hours  of  lonely  weeping 
None  can  forever  keep. 
How  sweet  is  the  night  of  health. 
When  Ali  sleeps  in  peace  ! 
Oh  may  such  nights  continue, 
Nor  ever,  ever  cease  ! 

Among  all  the  scores  of  nursery  songs,  I  have 
heard  only  a  very  few  addressed  to  girls,  but  some 
of  these  are  beautiful.  Hear  Katrina  sing  this  one  : 

Lulu  dear  the  house  is  bright, 
With  your  forehead's  sunny  light ; 
Men  your  father  honor  now 
When  they  see  your  lovely  brow. 
If  father  comes  home  sad  and  weary, 
Sight  of  you  will  make  him  cheery. 

The  "  fuller's  soap  "  mentioned  in  Malachi  3  :  2, 
is  the  plant  called  in  Arabic  "  Ashnan  or  Shenan," 
and  the  Arabs  sometimes  use  it  in  the  place  of  soap. 
The  following  is  another  song  addressed  to  a  baby 
girl : 

Come  Cameleer/ as  quick  as  you  can, 

And  make  us  soap  from  the  green  "  Shenan," 

To  bathe  our  Lulu  dear  ; 

We'll  wash  her  and  dress  her, 

And  then  we'll  caress  her, 

She'll  sleep  in  her  little  sereer.     (cradle) 

This  song  is  sung  by  the  Druze  women  to  their 
baby  girls : 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  329 

Your  eye  is  jet  black,  and  dark  are  its  lashes, 
Between  the  arched  brows,  like  a  crescent  it  flashes ; 
When  painted  with  "  kohl "  'tis  brighter  by  far, 
Than  the  full-orbed  moon  or  the  morning  star. 

The  following  is  supposed  to  be  addressed  by  a 
Druze  woman  to  her  neighbor  who  has  a  daughter  of 
marriageable  age,  when  she  is  obliged  to  veil  her  face  •. 

Hide  your  daughter,  veil  her  face, 

Neighbor,  do  not  tarry : 

For  my  Hanna  is  of  age, 

Says  he  wants  to  marry. 

When  I  asked  about  his  choice, 

Said  he  was  not  needy : 

But  that  if  he  ever  wed, 

He  thought  he'd  like  Fereedy. 

The  next  one  is  also  Druze  and  purely  Oriental;. 

Two  healths,  one  health, 

Four  healths  more : 

Four  sacks  of  sesame  seed, 

Scattered  on  the  floor  ; 

Pick  and  count  them  one  by  one. 

Reckon  up  their  number  ; 

For  every  seed  wish  Hassan's  health, 

Sweetly  may  he  slumber ! 

The  Druze  women  delight  in  nothing  so  much  as 
to  have  their  sons  ride  fine  horses  : 

My  Yusef,  my  cup  of  sherbet  sweet, 

My  broadcloth  red  hung  over  the  street, 

When  you  ride  the  blood  mare  with  sword  and  pistol, 

Your  saddle  is  gold  and  your  stirrups  crystal. 

Katrina  says  that  this  little  song  is  the  morning 
salutation  to  baby  boys : 


330        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Good  morning  now  to  you,  Little  boy  ! 
Your  face  is  like  the  dew,  Little  boy  ! 
There  never  was  a  child,  so  merry  and  so  mild, 
So  good  morning  once  again,  Little  boy  ! 

This  song  is  sung  by  the  Druze  women  to  their 
babes : 

O  Sparrow  of  Paradise, 
Hush  him  to  sleep  ? 
Your  feathers  are  "  henna." 
Watch  him  and  keep  ! 
Bring  sleep  soft  and  sweet 
Upon  your  white  wings  ! 
For  Hassan  the  pet 
And  his  mother  who  sings  ! 

The  apples  of  Damascus  are  noted  throughput 
Syria,  though  we  should  regard  them  as  very  poor 
fruit : 

What's  he  like  ?     If  any  ask  us, 
Flowers  and  apples  of  Damascus  ; 
Apples  fragrant  on  the  tray, 
Roses  sweet  with  scent  of  May. 

Laia  says  that  the  next  one  is  sung  by  the  Druze 
women  to  their  baby  boys : 

I  love  you,  I  prize  you,  and  for  you  I  wish, 

A  hundred  oak  trees  in  the  valley  ; 

A  hundred  blood  mares  all  tied  in  the  court, 

And  ready  for  foray  or  sally. 

Mount  your  horse,  fly  away,  with  your  scarf  flowing  free, 
The  chiefs  of  the  tribe  will  assemble  ; 
Damascus,  Aleppo,  and  Ghutah  beside, 
At  the  sound  of  your  coming  will  tremble. 

Nejmeh  says  that  the  Bedawin  women  who  come 
to  Safita,  her  native  place,  often  sing  the  following 
song: 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  331 

Come  little  Bedawy,  sit  on  my  lap, 
Pretty  jjearls  shine  in  your  little  white  cap, 
Rings  are  in  your  ears, 
Rings  are  in  your  nose, 
Rings  upon  your  fingers, 
And  "henna  "  on  your  toes. 

They  use  the  "  henna  "  to  dye  their  hands,  feet 
and  finger  nails,  when  a  wedding  or  festive  occasion 
occurs  in  the  family. 

Katrina  recalls  another  little  song  which  she 
used  to  sing  to  Harry  : 

Welcome  now,  my  baby  dear, 

Whence  did  you  come  ? 

Your  voice  is  sweet, 

What  little  feet ! 

Make  yourself  at  home  ! 

Nideh,  the  Druze  girl  down%  stairs  is  ready  with 
another  song.  She  is  rocking  little  Sheikh  Fereed 
in  his  cradle,  and  says  : 

In  your  cradle  sleep  my  boy, 
Rest  from  all  your  labor  ; 
May  El  Hakim,  heaven's  God, 
Ever  be  your  neighbor ! 

It  makes  me  feel  sad  to  hear  a  poor  woman  pray- 
ing to  a  man.  This  El  Hakim  was  a  man,  and  a 
bad  man  too,  who  lived  many  hundred  years  ago, 
and  now  the  Druzes  regard  him  as  their  God.  But 
what  difference  is  there  between  worshipping  Hakim 
as  the  Druzes  do,  and  worshipping  Mary  and  Joseph 
as  the  Greeks  and  Maronites  do.  Laia  says  the 
Maronites  down  in  the  lower  part  of  this  village  sing 
the  following  song: 


332 


THZ   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


Hilffi,  Hillu,  Hallelujah  ! 

Come  my  wild  gazelles  ! 

He  who  into  trouble  falls 

On  the  Virgin  Mother  calls  ; 

To  Damascus  she's  departing. 

All  the  mountain  monks  are  starting. 

Come  my  priest  and  come  my  deacon, 

Bring  the  censer  and  the  beacon, 

We  will  celebrate  the  Mass, 

In  the  Church  of  Mar  Elias ; 

Mar  Elias,  my  neighbor  dear, 

You  must  be  deaf  if  you  did  not  hear. 

Sit  Leila  sings : 

I  love  you  my  boy,  and  this  is  the  proof, 

I  wish  that  you  had  all  the  wealth  of  the  "  Shoof," 

Hundreds  of  costly  silken  bales, 

Hundreds  of  ships  with  lofty  sails, 

Hundreds  of  towns  to  obey  your  word, 

And  thousands  of  thousands  to  call  you  lord  ! 

Katrina  is  ready  t*o  sing  again  : 

I  will  sing  to  you, 

God  will  bring  to  you, 

All  you  need,  my  dear: 

He's  here  and  there, 

He  is  everywhere, 

And  to  you  He's  ever  near. 

People  say  that  every  baby  that  is  born  into  the 
world  is  thought  by  its  mother  to  be  better  than 
any  other  ever  born.  The  Arab  women  think  so  too, 
and  this  is  the  way  they  sing  it : 

One  like  you  was  never  born, 
One  like  you  was  never  brought ; 
All  the  Arabs  might  grow  old, 
Fighting  ne'er  so  brave  and  bold, 
Yet  with  all  their  battles  fought, 
One  like  you  they  never  caught. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


333 


Im  Paris  asks  if  we  would  not  like  to  hear  some 
of  the  rhymes  the  Arab  women  sing  when  playing 
with  their  children.  Here  are  some  of  them.  The 
first  one  you  will  think  is  like  what  you  have  already 
seen  in  "  Mother  Goose." 

Blacksmith,  blacksmith,  shoe  the  mare, 
Shoe  the  colt  with  greatest  care  ; 
Hold  the  shoe  and  drive  the  nail, 
Else  your  labor  all  will  fail ; 
Shoe  a  donkev  for  Seleem, 
And  a  colt  for  Ibraheem. 

Sugar  cane  grows  luxuriantly  in  Syria,  and  it  was 
first  taken  from  Tripoli,  Syria,  to  Spain,  and  thence 
to  the  West  Indies  and  America.  But  all  they  do 
with  it  now  in  Syria,  is  to  suck  it.  It  is  cut  up  in 
pieces  and  sold  to  the  people,  old  and  young,  who 
peel  it  and  suck  it.  So  the  Arab  women  sing  to 
their  children : 

Pluck  it  and  suck  it,  the  green  sugar  cane, 

Whatever  is  sweet  is  costly  and  vain  ; 

He'll  cut  you  a  joint  as  long  as  a  span, 

And  charge  two  piastres.     Now  buy  if  you  can  ! 

Wered  says  she  will  sing  us  two  or  three  which 
they  use  in  teaching  the  little  Arab  babies  to  "  pat " 
their  hands : 

Patty  cake,  baby  !     Make  him  dance  ! 
May  his  age  increase  and  his  years  advance  ! 
May  his  life  like  the  rock,  long  years  endure, 
Overgrown  with  lilies,  so  sweet  and  pure  ! 

And  now  the  Sit  Leila  is  singing  again  one  of  the 
Druze  lullabys : 


334  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Tish  for  two,  Tish  for  two  ! 

A  linen  shirt  with  a  border  blue  ! 

With  cloth  that  the  little  pedler  sells, 

For  the  father  of  eyes  like  the  little  gazelles  ! 

Your  mother  will  weave  and  spin  and  twine, 

To  clothe  you  so  nicely  O  little  Hassein  ! 

Do  you  hear  the  jackals  crying  as  they  come  up 
out  of  the  valley  ?  Their  cry  is  like  the  voice  of  the 
cat  and  dog  mingled  together,  and  Im  Paris  knows 
some  of  the  ditties  which  they  sing  to  their  children 
about  the  jackals  and  their  fondness  for  chickens : 

You  cunning  rogues  beware  ! 

You  jackals  with  the  long  hair  ! 

You  ate  up  the  chickens  of  old  Katrin, 

And  ran  away  singing  like  wild  Bedawin. 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  have  so  many  fleas  annoying 
us  all  the  time,  but  we  must  not  be  more  anxious  to 
keep  the  fleas  out  than  to  get  the  people  in,'  and  as 
the  fellaheen  come  to  see  us,  they  will  be  likely  to 
flea  us  too.  Safita  is  famous  for  fleas,  so  no  wonder 
that  Nejmeh  knows  the  following  song  of  the  boys 
about  fleas  : 

I  caught  and  killed  a  hopping  flea, 
His  sister's  children  came  to  me  : 
One  with  drum  my  ears  did  pierce, 
One  was  fluting  loud  and  fierce, 
Then  they  danced  me,  made  me  sing, 
Like  a  monkey  in  a  ring. 
Come  O  Deeby,  come  I  pray, 
Bring  the  Doctor  right  away  ! 
Peace  on  your  heart  feel  no  alarm, 
You  have  not  had  the  slightest  harm. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  335 

I-aia  is  never  at  a  loss  for  something  new,  and  I 
am  amazed  at  her  memory.  She  will  give  us  some 
rhyming  riddles  in  Arabic,  and  we  will  put  them  into 
English  as  best  we  may.  The  first  is  about  the  Ant : 

'Tis  black  as  night, 
But  it  is  not  night : 
Like  a  bird  it  has  wings, 
But  it  never  sings  : 
It  digs  through  the  house, 
But  it  is  not  a  mouse  : 
It  eats  barley  and  grass, 
But  it  is  not  an  ass. 

Rxidle  about  a  gun  : 

A  featherless  bird  flew  over  the  sea, 

A  bird  without  feathers,  how  can  that  be  ? 

A  beautiful  bird  which  I  admire, 

With  wooden  feet  and  a  head  of  fire  ! 

Riddle  on  salt  : 

O  Arab  tribes,  so  bold  and  gay, 

What  little  grain  have  you  to-day  ? 

It  never  on  the  trees  is  seen, 

Nor  on  the  flowers  and  wheat  so  green, 

Its  source  is.  pure,  'tis  pleasant  to  eat, 

From  water  it  comes  that  is  not  sweet, 

Though  from  water  it  comes,  and  there's  water  in  it, 

You  put  it  in  water,  it  dies  in  a  minute. 

The  door  has  opened  down  stairs,  and  some  of 
Sit  Leila's  friends  have  come  to  see  her.  The  mo- 
ment they  saw  the  little  baby  Fereed,  they  all  began 
to  call  out,  "Ism  Allah  alayhee,"  "  The  name  of  Allah 
upon  him."  They  use  this  expression  to,  keep  off 
the  Evil  Eye.  This  superstition  is  universal  through- 


336        THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

out  Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa,  and  exists  also 
in  Italy  and  Spain.  Dr.  Meshaka  of  Damascus  says 
that  those  who  believe  in  the  Evil  Eye,  "  think  that 
certain  people  have  the  power  of  killing  others  by  a 
glance  of  the  eye.  Others  inflict  injury  by  the  eye. 
Others  pick  grapes  by  merely  looking  at  them. 
This  power  may  rest  in  one  eye,  and  one  man  who 
thought  he  had  this  power,  veiled  one  eye,  out  of 
compassion  for  others  !  The  Moslem  Sheikhs  and 
others  profess  to  cure  the  evil  eye,  and  prevent  its 
evil  effects  by  writing  mystic  talismanic  words  on 
papers,  which  are  to  be  worn.  Others  write  the 
words  on  an  egg,  and  then  strike  the  forehead  of  the 
evil  eyed  with  the  egg." 

Whenever  a  new  house  is  built,  the  workmen 
hang  up  an  egg  shell  or  a  piece  of  alum,  or  an  old 
root,  or  a  donkey's  skull,  in  the  front  door,  to  keep 
off  the  evil  eye.  Moslem  women  leave  their  children 
ragged  and  dirty  to  keep  people  from  admiring  them, 
and  thus  smiting  them  with  the  evil  eye.  They 
think  that  blue  eyes  are  especially  dangerous. 

They  think  that  the  name  of  God  or  Allah  is  a 
charm  against  evil,  and  when  they  repeat  it,  they 
have  no  idea  of  reverence  for  that  Holy  Name. 

Here  is  a  terrible  imprecation  against  a  woman 
who  smites  with  the  Evil  Eye  : 

May  her  hand  be  thrust  in  her  mouth, 
And  her  eyes  be  burned  in  the  fire  ! 
The  blessings  of  Mighty  God, 
•    Preserve  you  from  her  ire  ! 


An  Arab  Ploughing. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  337 

Nideh  sings 

Upon  you  the  name  of  Allah, 
Around  you  Allah's  eye  ! 
May  the  Evil  Eye  be  blinded, 
And  never  harm  my  boy ! 

It  is  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and  Katrina,  Laia, 
Wered,  and  Handumeh  saylt  is  time  to  go.  Handu- 
meh  insists  that  we  come  to  her  wedding  to-morrow. 
Amin  will  go  with  them  to  drive  away  the  dogs,  and 
see  that  no  wolves,  hyenas,  or  leopards  attack  them 
by  the  way. 


VII. 

The  boys  of  Abeih  are  early  risers.  What  a 
merry  laugh  they  have !  What  new  song  is  that 
they  are  singing  now  ? 

There  has  been  a  shower  in  the  night  and  Yusef 
and  Khalil  are  singing  about  the  rain.  We  say  in 
English  '•  it  rains,''  but  the  Arabs  tell  us  what  "  it  " 
refers  to.  They  say  "  The  world  rains,"  "  The  world 
snows,"  "  The  world  is  coming  down,"  "  The  world 
thunders  and  lightens."  So  you  will  be  able  to  tell 
your  teacher,  when  he  asks  you  to  parse  "  it  rains," 
that  "it"  is  a  pronoun  referring  to  "world."  Hear 
them  sing: 

Rain,  O  world,  all  day  and  night, 
We  will  wash  our  clothing  white, 
Rain,  O  world,  your  waters  shed, 
On  my  dear  grandmother's  head. 


338  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  sun  shines  out  npw,  and-  Khalil  says  the 
"  world  has  got  well "  again,  so  he  sings  : 

Shines  the  sun  with  brightest  beam 
On  the  roof  of  Im  Seleem  ; 
Now  the  bear  will  dance  a  reel, 
On  the  roof  of  Im  Khaleel. 

The  roofs  of  the  housems  are  low  and  flat,  and  on 
the  hill-sides  you  can  walk  from  the  street  above 
upon  the  roof  of  the  houses  below.  I  once  lived  in 
a  house  in  Duma  in  which  the  cattle,  donkeys,  and 
sheep  used  to  walk  on  our  roof  every  evening  as  they 
came  in  from  pasture.  It  was  not  very  pleasant  to 
be  awakened  at  midnight  by  a  cow-fight  on  the  roof, 
and  have  the  stones  and  dirt  rattling  down  into  our 
faces,  but  we  could  get  no  other  house,  and  had  to 
make  the  best  of  it.  You  can  understand  then 
Khalil's  song : 

The  sun  is  rising  all  so  bright 
Upon  the  Pasha's  daughter  : 
See  her  toss  the  tassels  blue, 
As  her  mother  taught  her. 
Turn  the  oxen  on  the  roof 
Of  the  village  priest ; 
He  will  kill  them  one  and  all, 
And  give  the  poor  a  feast. 

The  boys  seem  to  be  in  high  glee.  They  all 
know  Handumeh  and  her  betrothed  Shaheen 
Ma'ttar,  so  they  are  swinging  and  singing  in  honor 
of  her  wedding. 

But  the  time  has  come  for  the  wedding,  and  we 
will  go  over  to  Ain  Kesur,  about  a  mile  away,  and 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


339 


join  in  the  bridal  procession.  As  we  come  near  the 
house  we  hear  the  women  inside  singing.  They 
have  been  dressing  the  bride,  and  after  she  is  dressed 
they  lead  her  around  and  try  to  make  her  dance. 
Perhaps  they  will  let  us  see  how  she  is  dressed. 
Her  head  is  covered  with  a  head-dress  of  pink  gauze, 
embroidered  with  gold  thread  and  purple  chenille, 
and  ornamented  with  pearl  beads  and  artificial 
flowers,  and  over  all  a  long  white  gauze  veil  trimmed 
with  lace.  Her  ear-rings  are  gold  filigree  work  with 
pendant  pearls,  and  around  her  neck  is  a  string  of 
pure  amber  beads  and  a  gold  necklace.  She  wears 
a  jacket  of  black  velvet,  and  a  gilt  belt  embroidered 
with  blue,  and  fastened  with  a  silver  gilt  filigree 
buckle  in  the  form  of  a  bow  knot  with  pendants.  On 
her  finger  is  a  gold  ring  set  with  sapphire,  and  others 
with  turquoises  and  amethysts.  Her  dress  is  of 
brown  satin,  and  on  her  arms  are  solid  gold  bracelets 
which  cost  1400  piastres  or  fifty-six  dollars.  You 
know  Handiimeh  is  not  a  rich  girl,  and  her  betrothed 
is  a  hard  working  muleteer,  and  he  has  had  to  work 
very  hard  to  get  the  money  to  buy  all  these  things, 
for  it  is  the  custom  for  the  bridegroom  to  pay  for 
the  bride's  outfit.  The  people  always  lay  out  their 
money  in  jewelry,  because  it  is  easily  carried,  and 
easily  buried  in  time  of  civil  wars  and  troubles  in 
the  land.  Shaheen's  brothers  and  relatives  have 
come  to  take  her  to  Abeih,  but  he  is  nowhere  to  be 
seen.  It  would  not  be  proper  for  him  to  come  to 
her  house.  For  weeks  she  has  not  been  over  to 
Abeih,  except  to  invite  us  to  her  wedding,  and  when 


340  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Anna  asked  her  on  what  day  she  was  to  be  married, 
she  professed  not  to  know  anything  about  it.  They 
think  it  is  not  modest  for  a  bride  to  care  anything 
about  the  wedding,  and  she  will  try  to  appear  un- 
willing to  go  when  they  are  ready  to  start.  The 
women  are  singing  now  : 

Dance,  our  bride  so  fair, 

Dance  and  never  care  ; 

Your  bracelets  sing,  your  anklets  ring, 

Your  shining  beauty  would  dazzle  a  king ! 

To  Damascus  your  father  a  journey  has  made, 

And  your  bridegroom's  name  is  Abu  Zeid. 

And  now  the  young  men  outside  are  dancing  and 
fencing,  and  they  all  join  in  singing  : 

Dance,  my  dancer,  early  and  late, 
Would  I  had  like  you  seven  or  eight ; 
Two  uncles  like  you,  blithe  and  gay, 
To  stand  at  my  back  in  the  judgment  day ! 

And  now  the  young  "men,  relatives  of  the  bride- 
groom, address  the  brother  of  the  bride,  as  her  father 
is  not  living,  and  they  all  sing : 

O  brother  of  the  bride,  on  a  charger  you  should  ride  ; 

A  Councillor  of  State  you  should  be ; 

Whene'er  you  lift  your  voice, 

The  judgment  halls  rejoice, 

And  the  earth  quakes  with  fear 

From  Acre  to  Ghuzeer. 

And  now  the  warlike  Druzes,  who  are  old  friends 
of  Shaheen  and  his  father,  wish  to  show  their  good 
will  by  singing  a  wedding  song,  which  they -have 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


341 


borrowed  from  the  old  wild  inhabitants  of  this  land 
of  Canaan  : 

O  brother  of  the  bride,  your  mare  has  gnawed  her  bridle, 
Run  for  the  blacksmith,  do  not  be  idle. 
She  has  run  to  the  grave  where  are  buried  your  foes, 
And  pawed  out  their  hearts  with  her  iron  shoes  ! 

But  the  time  has  come  for  the  procession  to 
move,  and  we  go  along  slowly  enough.  The  bride 
rides  a  mare,  led  by  one  of  Shaheen's  brothers,  and 
as  we  pass  the  fountain,  the  people  pour  water  under 
the  mare's  feet  as  a  libation,  and  Handumeh  throws 
down  a  few  little  copper  coins  to  the  children.  The 
women  in  the  company  set  up  the  zilagheet,  a  high 
piercing  trill  of  the  voice,  and  all  goes  merry  as  a 
marriage  bell.  When  we  reach  the  house  of  Shaheen, 
he  keeps  out  of  sight,  not  even  offering  to  help  his 
bride  dismount  from  her  horse.  That  would  never 
do.  He  will  stay  among  the  men,  and  she  in  a  sep- 
arate room  among  the  women,  until  the  hour  of  the 
ceremony  arrives. 

But  the  women  are  singing  again,  and  this  time 
the  song  is  really  beautiful  in  Arabic,  but  I  fear  I 
have  made  lame  work  of  it  in  the  translation : 

Allah,  belaly,  belaly, 

Allah,  belaly,  belaly, 

May  God  spare  the  life  of  your  sire, 

Our  lovely  gazelle  of  the  valley  I 

May  Allah  his  riches  increase 

He  has  brought  you  so  costly  a  dowry  ; 

The  moonlight  has  gone  from  his  house, 

The  rose  from  his  gardens  so  flow'ry. 


342 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


Run  away,  rude  men,  turn  aside, 

Give  place  to  our  beautiful  bride : 

From  her  sweet  perfumes  I  am  sighing, 

From  the  odor  of  musk  I  am  dying. 

Come  and  join  us  fair  maid,  they  have  brought  you  your  dress, 
Leave  your  peacocks  and  doves,  give  our  bride  a  caress  ; 
Red  silk  !  crimson  silk !  the  weaver  cries  as  he  goes : 
But  our  bride's  cheeks  are  redder  blushing  bright  as  the  rose. 
Dark  silk !  black  silk  !  hear  him  now  as  he  sings : 
But  our  bride's  hair  is  black,  like  the  raven's  dark  wings  ; 
With  the  light  of  our  eyes  with  our  Handumeh  sweet 
No  maid  of  the  Druzes  can  ever  compete. 
She  is  worth  all  the  wealth  of  the  Lebanon  domain, 
All  the  vineyards  and  olives,  the  silk  worms  and  grain. 
And  no  maids  of  the  Christians  can  with  her  compare 
Tho'  shining  with  pearls  and  with  jewels  so  rare. 

The  house  is  now  crowded  full,  the  men  being 
all  in  one  room  with  Shaheen,  and  the  women  in  the 
other  room,  and  the  court  with  the  bride  Handumeh. 
One  of  Shaheen's  brothers  comes  around  with  a 
kumkum,  and  sprinkles  orange  flower  water  in  all 
our  faces,  and  Khalil  asks  us  if  we  wish  the  ceremony 
to  take  place  now?  We  tell  him  that  he  must  ask 
the  bride  and  groom.  So  Abu.  Shaheen  comes  into 
the  court  with  the  old  priest  Eklemandus,  as  Sha- 
heen's family  belong  to  the  Greek  Catholic  sect. 
Handumeh  is  really  a  Protestant,  and  Shaheen  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  priests,  but  the  "old  folks" 
had  their  way  about  it.  A  white  curtain  hangs 
across  the  court,  and  the  bride  stands  on  one  side, 
with  her  bridesmaid,  and  all  the  women  and  girls, 
and  on  the  other  side  is  the  priest  with  Shaheen, 
and  all  of  the  men  and  boys.  Then  candles  were 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


343 


distributed,  and  lighted,  and  the  old  priest  adjusted 
his  robes  and  began  to  read  the  marriage  service. 
An  assistant  stood  by  his  side  looking  over  his 
shoulder,  and  responding  Amen  in  a  loud  and  long 
drawn  voice.  At  length  the  priest  called  out  to  him, 
"  A  little  shorter  there  on  those  Amens.  We  don't 
want  long  Amens  at  a  wedding ! "  This  set  the 
whole  crowd  laughing,  and  on  he  went  reading  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  prayers  and  advice  to  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  in  the  most  hasty  and  trifling  man- 
ner, intoning  it  through  his  nose,  so  that  no  one 
could  understand  what  he  was  saying.  While  he 
was  reading  from  the  gospel  about  the  marriage  at 
Cana  of  Galilee,  a  small  boy,  holding  a  lighted  can- 
dle, came  very  near  burning"  off  the  old  man's  beard, 
and  he  called  out  to  him,  '•'  Put  out  your  candle ! 
You  have  tormented  my  life  out  of  me  with  that 
candle."  This  raised  another  laugh,  and  on  he  read. 
Then  he  took  two  rings,  and  drawing  aside  the  cur- 
tain, placed  one  on  the  bride's  head,  and  the  other  on 
the  bridegroom's  head,  pronouncing  them  man  and 
wife,  and  then  gave  them  each  a  sip  of  wine  and  the 
ceremony  was  concluded,  all  the  men  kissing  Sha- 
heen,  and  the  women  Handumeh.  Refreshments 
were  then  served  to  the  guests  from  the  village,  and 
a  dinner  to  those  from  other  villages.  In  the  even- 
ing there  assembled  a  great  company  in  Shaheen's 
house,  and  the  hour  was  given  up  to  story  telling. 
Saleh,  whose  brother  married  Shaheen's  sister,  will 
begin  with  the  Story  of  tlie-  Goats  and  the  Ghoul. 
Once  there  was  a  Nanny  Goat,  strong  and  power- 


344 


THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


ful,  with  long  and  strong  horns,  and  once  upon  a  time 
she  brought  forth  twin  kids,  fair  and  beautiful.  One 
was  named  Sunaisil,  and  the  other  Rabab.  Now 
the  Nanny  Goat  went  out  every  morning  to  the  pas- 
ture, leaving  her.  twin  kids  in  the  cave.  She  shut 
the  door  carefully,  and  they  locked  it  on  the  inside 
through  fear  of  the  Ghoul,  for  her  neighbor  in  the 
next  house  was  a  Ghoul  who  swallowed  little  chil- 
dren alive.  Then  at  evening  when  she  came  home, 
she  would  stand  outside  the  door,  and  sing  to  her 
twin  kids  this  little  song : 

Hearken  now  Sunaisil, 

Come  Rabab  my  dear : 

Open  to  your  mother, 

Never,  never  ftar. 

She  has  sweet  milk  in  her  udder, 

Tufts  of  grass  upon  her  horn  ; 

She'll  give  you  both  your  supper, 

And  breakfast  in  the  morn. 

The  little  twin  kids  would  know  her  voice,  open 
the  door  in  gladness,  and  eat  a  hearty  supper,  and 
after  hearing  a  nice  story  from  the  Anziyeh,  (for  so 
their  mother  was  called),  drop  off  to  sweet  sleep. 

Now  all  things  went  on  well  for  some  time,  until 
one  day  the  Ghoul  neighbor  being  very  hungry  for 
a  supper  of  twin  kids,  came  to  the  door  of  the  cave 
and  tried  to  push  it  open.  But  it  was  too  strong  for 
her,  so  she  went  away  in  perplexity.  At  length  she 
thought  she  would  sing  to  them  the  very  song, 
which  the  Nanny  Goat  sang  to  them  every  evening 
on  her  return,  so  she  sang  it  : 


THE  CHILDREN S  CHAPTER.  345 

Hearken  now  Sunaisil, 

Come  Rabab,  my  dear,  etc.,  etc. 

and  when  they  heard  this  song,  they  opened  the 
door  with  gladness  to  eat  their  supper,  when  sud- 
denly the  Ghoul  sprang  upon  them  with  her  huge 
mouth  open,  and  swallowed  them  both  down  at  once. 
She  then  shut  the  door  and  fastened  it  as  it  was  be- 
fore, and  went  on  her  way.  At  evening  the  Nanny 
Goat  came  home  with  milk  and  grass  for  her  twin 
kids'  supper,  and  knocked  at  the  door  and  sang : 

Hearken  now  Sunaisil, 

Come  Rabab  my  dear,  etc.,  etc., 

as  usual,  but  no  one  opened  the  door.  Then  she 
knocked  and  sang  again,  and  at  length  she  gave  up 
all  hope  of  their  opening  the  door,  and  butted  against 
the  door  with  her  horns  and  broke  it  open.  She 
then  entered  the  cave  but  there  were  no  twin  kids 
there.  All  was  still.  Then  she  knew  that  the 
Ghoul  had  eaten  them.  So  she  hastened  to  the 
house  of  the  Ghoul,  and  went  upon  the  top  of  the 
house,  and  began  to  stamp  and  pound  upon  the  roof. 
The  Ghoul,  hearing  the  stamping  upon  the  roof, 
called  out,  whosoever  stamps  on  my  roof,  may  Allah 
stamp  on  his  roof!  The  Nanny  Goat  replied,  I  am 
on  your  roof;  I,  whose  children  you  have  eaten. 
Come  out  now,  and  we  will  fight  it  out  by  butting 
our  heads  together.  Very  well,  said  the  Ghoul,  only 
wait  a  little  until  I  can  make  me  a  pair  of  horns  like 
you.  So  the  goat  waited,  and  away  went  the  Ghoul 
to  make  her  horns.  She  made  two  horns  of  dough 
15* 


34^  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

and  dried  them  in  the  sun  until  they  were  hard,  and 
then  came  to  "  butt  "  with  the  goat.  At  the  first 
shock,  when  the  goat  butted  her  with  her  horns,  the 
horns  of  dough  broke  all  to  pieces ;  then  the  goat 
butted  her  again  in  her  bowels  and  broke  her  in 
twain,  and  out  jumped  Sunaisil  and  Rabab,  frisking 
and  leaping  and  calling  out  "  ya  imme/'  oh,  my 
mother,  Oh,  my  mother !  The  Ghoul  being  dead 
they  had  no  more  fear,  and  lived  long  and  happy 
lives  with  their  mother  the  Anaziyeh. 

Did  you  notice  how  the  little  boys  listened  to 
Saleh's  story  of  the  Goats  and  the  Ghoul?  This 
story  is  told  by  the  mothers  to  their  little  children, 
all  over  Syria,  in  the  tents  of  the  Bedawin  and  in 
the  houses  of  the  citizens.  One  of  the  women, 
named  Noor,  (i.  e.  Light),  a' sister  of  the  bridegroom, 
says  she  will  tell  the  children  the  story  of  the  Hamam, 
the  Butta,  the  Wez,  and  the  Hamar,  that  is,  of  the 
Dove,  the  Duck,  the  Goose,  and  the  Donkey,  if  all 
will  sit  still  on  the  floor.  So  all  the  little  boys  and 
girls  curl  their  feet  under  them  and  fold  their  arms, 
and  Noor  begins : 

Once  the  Dove,  the  Duck,  the  Goose,  and  the 
Donkey  joined  company  and  agreed  to  live  together. 
Then  they  took  counsel  about  their  means  of  living, 
and  said,  how  long  shall  we  continue  in  such  distress 
for  our  necessary  food  ?  Come  let  us  plough  a  piece 
of  ground,  and  plant  each  one  such  seeds  as  are 
suited  to  his  taste.  So  they  ploughed  a  piece  of 
ground  and  sowed  the  seed.  The  Goose  planted 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


347 


rice,  the  Duck  planted  wheat,  the  Dove  planted 
pulse,  and  the  Donkey  planted  barley,  and  they 
stationed  the  Donkey  on  guard  to  watch  the  grow- 
ing crop.  Now  when  the  seeds  began  to  grow  and 
flourish,  and  the  Donkey  looked  upon  it  green  and 
bright  and  waving  in  the  wind,  he  arose  and  ate  it 
all,  and  then  went  and  threw  himself  into  a  ditch  near 
by.  Then  came  the  Dove,  the  Goose,  and  the  Duck 
to  survey  the  growing  crop,  and  lo  and  behold,  it  was 
all  eaten  up,  and  the  ground  was  red  and  barren. 
Then  said  they,  where  is  the  Donkey  whom  we  set 
on  guard  over  our  crop  ?  They  searched  near  and 
far,  and  at  length  they  found  him,  standing  in  the 
ditch,  and  they  asked  him  where  are  the  crops  we  so 
carefully  planted  and  set  you  to  watch  ?  Then  said 
the  Donkey,  the  Bedawin  came  with  their  flocks  of 
sheep  and  pastured  them  on  our  crops,  and  when  I 
tried  to  resist,  they  threw  me  into  this  ditch.  Then 
they  replied,  it  is' false,  you  have  eaten  it  yourself. 
He  said,  I  did  not.  They  said,  yes,  you  did,  for  you 
are  sleek  and  fat,  and  the  contest  waxed  hot  between 
them,  until  at  length  they  all  agreed  to  make  each 
one  swear  an  oath  "  by  the  life  of  the  Lake,"  which 
was  near  at  hand,  and  whoever  swore  the  oath,  and 
sprang  into  the  Lake  without  falling,  should  be  de- 
clared innocent.  So  the  Dove  went  down  first  and 
said  : 

Ham,  Ham,  Ham,  I  am  the  Dove  Hamam, 

Ham,  Ham,  Ham,  My  food  is  the  plain  Kotan,  (pulse). 

Ham,  Ham,  -Ham,  If  I  ate  the  growing  crop, 

May  I  suddenly  throw  it  up  ! 


348 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

May  Allah  tumble  me  into  the  Lake, 
And  none  any  news  of  me  ever  take  ! 


Then  the  Dove  leaped  into  the  Lake,  and  flew 
to  the  limb  of  a  tree  on  the  shore,  and  was  proved 
innocent. 

Then  the  Duck  went  down  and  said : 

But,  But,  But,  I  am  the  Butta  Duck, 

But,  But,  But,  My  food  is  wheat  and  muck  ; 

But,  But,  But,  If  I  ate  the  growing  crop, 

May  I  suddenly  throw  it  up  ! 

May  Allah  tumble  me  into'the  Lake, 

And  none  any  news  of  me  ever  take  1 

So  the  Duck  leaped  into  the  Lake,  and  then  flew 
to  the  limb  of  a  tree  on  the  shore  and  was  proved 
innocent. 

Then  the  Goose  went  down  and  said : 

Wez,  Wez,  Wez,  I  am  the  Goose  and  the  Wez, 

Wez,  Wez,  Wez,  I  eat  Egyptian  riz,  (rice), 

Wez,  Wez,  Wez,  If  I  ate  the  growing  crop, 

May  I  suddenly  throw  it  up  ! 
May  Allah  tumble  me  into  the  Lake, 
And  none  any  news  of  me  ever  take  ! 

So  the  Goose  leaped  into  the  Lake  and  then  flew 
to  the  limb  of  a  tree  on  the  shore  and  was  proved 
innocent. 

Then  the  Donkey  went  down  and  said : 

Hak,  Hak,  Hak,  I  am  the  Donkey  Jack, 

Hak,  Hak,  Hak,  I  barley  eat  by  the  sack  ; 

Hak,  Hak,  Hak,  If  I  ate  the  growing  crop, 

May  I  suddenly  throw  it  up ! 
May  Allah  tumble  me  into  the  Lake, 
And  none  any  news  of  me  ever  take  I 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


349 


Then  the  Donkey  leaped  boldly  into  the  La£e, 
and  down  he  fell,  and  his  feet  stuck  fast  in  the  mud 
and  mire.  Then  his  three  companions,  seeing  him 
proved  guilty  of  the  crime,  flew  away  and  left  him 
to  his  fate.  Then  the  Donkey  began  to  "  bray  "  for 
mercy,  and  called  at  the  top  of  his  voice : 

Whoever  will  help  me  out  of  this  plight, 
May  eat  my  tail  at  a  single  bite  I 

The  Bear  heard  the  braying, 

And  without  long  delaying, 

He  answered  by  saying : 

Long  eared  Donkey  will  you  pay, 
Every  word  of  what  you  say  ? 
If  I  save  you  by  my  might, 
Will  you  stand  still  while  I  bite  ? 

The  lying  Ass  lay  still, 

And  answered,  "  Yes,  I  will." 

The  Bear  then  gave  a  fearful  roar, 
And  dragged  the  Donkey  to  the  shore, 
And  said,  I  saved  you  from  your  plight, 
Now  stand  still,  Donkey,  while  I  bite  1 

He  said  :  Wait  Bruin  till  I  rest, 

And  "  smell  the  air  "  from  East  to  West, 

And  then  I'll  run  with  all  my  might, 

And  turn  my  tail  for  you  to  bite  ! 

Then  Bruin  took  him  at  his  word, 
Away  he  went  swift  as  a  bird, 
And  called  out,  now  Bruin,  I  will  rest, 
I'll  smell  the  air  from  East  to  West, 
I'm  running  new  with  all  my  might, 
I've  "  turned  my  tail "  for  you  to  bite  1 

The  Bear  resolved  in  grief  and  pain, 

He'd  never  help  an  Ass  again. 

Abu  Habeeb,  who  is  just  about  to  enter  the  col- 
lege, has  a  story  which  all  the  Arabs  know,  and  !o\e 
to  hear.  It  is  called  ; 


350 


THE  WOMEN-  OF  THE  ARABS. 


The  Lion  and  Ibn  Adam,  that  is,  the  Lion  and 
Man,  the  son  of  Adam. 

Once  there  was  a  Lion  who  had  a  son,  and  he 
always  charged  him,  saying,  my  son,  beware  of  Ibn 
Adam.  But  at  length  the  old  Lion  died,  and  the 
young  lion  resolved  that  he  would  search  through 
the  world  and  see  that  wonderful  animal  called  Ibn 
Adam,  of  whom  his  father  had  so  often  warned  him. 
So  out  he  went  from  his  cave,  and  walked  to  and  fro 
in  the  wilderness.  At  length  he  saw  a  huge  animal 
coming  towards  him,  with  long  crooked  legs  and 
neck,  and  running  at  the  top  of  his  speed.  It  was  a 
Camel.  But  when  the  Lion  saw  his  enormous  size  and 
rapid  pace,  he  said,  surely,  this  must  be  Ibn  Adam 
himself.  So  he  ran  towards  him  and  roared  a  fear- 
ful roar.  Stop  where  you  are !  The  Camel  stopped, 
trembling  with  fear  of  the  Lion.  Said  the  Lion,  are 
you  Ibn  Adam  ?  No,  said  the  Camel,  I  am  a  Camel 
fleeing  from  Ibn  Adam.  Said  the  Lion,  and  what 
did  Ibn  Adam  do  to  you  that  you  should  flee  from 
him  ?  The  Camel  said,  he  loaded  me  with  heavy 
burdens,  and  beat  me  cruelly,  and  when  I  found  a 
fit  chance,  I  fled  from  him  to  this  wilderness.  Said 
the  Lion,  is  Ibn  Adam  stronger  than  you  are  ?  Yes 
indeed,  many  times  stronger.  Then  the  Lion  was 
filled  with  terror,  lest  he  too  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  Ibn  Adam,  and  he  left  the  Camel  to  go  his 
way  in  peace.  After  a  little  while,  an  Ox  passed  by, 
and  the  Lion  said,  this  must  be  Ibn  Adam.  But  he 
found  that  he  too  was  fleeing  from  the  yoke  and  the 
goad  of  Ibn  Adam.  Then  he  met  a  Horse  running 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  351 

fleet  as  the.  wind,  and  he  said,  this  swift  animal  mujt 
'  be  the  famous  Ibn  Adam,  but  the  Horse  too  was 
running  away  from  the  halter,  the  bridle  the  spur  or 
the  harness  of  the  terrible  Ibn  Adam.  Then  he 
met  a  mule,  a  donkey,  a  buffalo  and  an  elephant, 
and  all  were  running  in  terror  of  Ibn  Adam.  The 
Lion  thought  what  terrible  monster  must  he  be  to 
have  struck  terror  into  all  these  monstrous  animals ! 
And  on  he  went  trembling,  until  hunger  drove  him 
to  a  forest  to  seek  for  .prey  to  eat.  While  he  was 
searching  through  the  forest,  lo  and  behold,  a  Carpen- 
ter was  at  work  cutting  wood.  The  Lion  wondered 
at  his  curious  form,  and  said,  who  knows  but  this 
may  be  Ibn  Adam  ?  So  he  came  near  and  asked  him 
saying,  Are  you  Ibn  Adam  ?  He  replied,  I  am. 
Then  the  Lion  roared  a  fearful  roar,  and  said,  pre- 
pare for  battle  with  the  Lion,  the  king  of  beasts  ! 
Then  Ibn  Adam  said  :  What  do  you  want  of  me  ? 
Said  the  Lion,  I  want  to  devour  you.  Very  well, 
said  the  Carpenter,  wait  until  I  can  get  my  claws 
ready.  I  will  go  and  take  this  wood  yonder,  and 
then  I  will  return  and  fight  you.  If  you  kill  me,  eat 
me,  and  if  I  conquer  you  I  will  let  you  go,  for  we 
the  sons  of  Adam  do  not  eat  the  flesh  of  wild  beasts, 
nor  do  we  kill  them,  but  we  let  them  go.  The  Lion 
was  deceived  by  those  artful  words,  for  he  had  seen 
the  Camel  and  his  companions  running  away,  and  he 
thought  within  himself,  now,  if  Ibn  Adam  did  real- 
ly eat  the  flesh  of  beasts,  he  would  not  have  let  the 
Camel  and  the  Horse,  the  Buffalo  and  the  Mule  es- 
cape into  the  desert.  So  he  said  to  the  Carpenter, 


352 


THE   WOMEN  OF    THE  ARABS. 


very  well,  I  will  wait  for  you  to  take  the  wood,  and 
return  with  your  claws.  Not  so,  said  the  Carpen- 
ter, I  am  afraid  that  you  will  not  wait  for  me, 
You  are  a  stranger,  and  I  do  not  trust  your  word. 
I  fear  you  will  run  away  before  I  return.  Said 
the  Lion,  it  is  impossible  that*  the  Lion  should  run 
away  from  any  one.  Said  the  Carpenter,  I  cannot 
admit  what  you  say,  unless  you  will  grant  me  one 
thing.  And  what  is  that,  said  the  Lion.  The  Car- 
penter said,  I  have  here  a  little  rope.  Come  let  me 
tie  you  to  this  tree  until  I  return,  and  then  I  shall 
know  where  to  find  you.  The  Lion  agreed  to  this 
plan,  and  the  Carpenter  bound  him  with  ropes  to  the 
tree  until  he  and  the  tree  were  one  compact  bundle. 
Then  the  Carpenter  went  away  to  his  shop,  and 
brought  his  glue  pot,  and  filling  it  with  glue  and  pitch 
boiled  it  over  the  fire.  Then  he  returned  and  be- 
smeared the  Lion  with  the  boiling  mixture  from  his 
head  to  the  end  of  his  tail,  and  applied  a  torch  until 
he  was  all  in  £  flame  from  head  to  tail,  and  in  this 
plight  the  Carpenter  left  him.  Then  the  Lion  roared 
in  agony  until  the  whole  forest  echoed  the  savage 
roar,  and  all  the  animals  and  wild  beasts  came  run- 
ning together  to  see  what  had  happened.  And  when 
they  saw  him  in  this  sad  plight,  they  rushed  to  him 
and  loosed  his  bonds.,  and  he  sprang  to  the  river  and 
extinguished  the  flames,  but  came  out  singed  and 
scarred,  with  neither  hair  nor  mane.  Now  when  all 
the  beasts  saw  this  pitiable  sight,  they  made  a  cove- 
nant together  to  kill  Ibn  Adam.  So  they  watched 
and  waited  day  and  night,  until  at  length  they  found 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


353 


him  in  the  forest.  As  soon  as  he  saw  them,  he  ran 
to  a  lofty  tree,  and  climbed  to  its  very  top,  taking 
only  his  adze  with  him,  and  there  awaited  his  fate. 
The  whole  company  of  beasts  now  gathered  around 
the  foot  of  the  tree,  and  tried  in  vain  to  climb  it,  and 
after  they  walked  around  and  around,  at  length 
they  agreed  that  one  should  stand  at  the  foot  of  the 
tree,  and  another  on  his  back,  and  so  on,  un- 
til the  upper  one  should  reach  Ibn  Adam,  and 
throw  him  down  to  the  ground.  Now  the  Lion, 
whose  back  was  burned  and  blistered,  from  his  great 
fear  of  man  demanded  that  he  should  stand  at  the 
bottom  of  the  tree.  To  this  all  agreed.  Then  the 
Camel  mounted  upon  the  Lion's  back,  the  Horse 
upon  the  Camel,  the  Buffalo  upon  the 'Horse,  the 
Bear  upon  the  Buffalo,  the  Wolf  upon  the  bear,  and 
the  Donkey  upon  the  Wolf,  and  so  on  in  order,  until 
the  topmost  animal  was  almost  within  reach  of  the 
Carpenter,  Ibn  Adam.  Now,  when  he  saw  the  ani- 
mals coming  nearer  and  nearer,  and  almost  ready  to 
seize  him,  he  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  Bring 
the  glue  pot  of  boiling  pitch  to  the  Lion  !  Hasten  ! 
Hasten  !  Now  when  the  Lion  heard  of  the  boiling 
pitch,  he  was  terrified  beyond  measure  and  leaped 
one  side  with  all  his  might  and  fled.  Down  came 
the  pile  of  beasts,  tumbling  in  confusion,  the  one 
upon  the  other,  and  all  lay  groaning  bruised  and 
bleeding,  some  with  broken  legs,  some  with  broken 
ribs,  and  some  with  broken  heads.  But  as  soon  as 
the  clamor  of  their  first  agony  was  over,  they  alJ 


354 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


called  out  to  the   Lion,  why  did  you  leap  out  and 
bring  all  this  misery  upon  us  !  The  Lion  replied  : 

The  story's  point  he  never  knew, 
Who  never  felt  the  burning  glue  ! 

Monsoor,  who  has  just  been  to  Damascus,  says 
that  if  he  can  have  another  pipe,  and  a  cup  of  Arab 
coffee,  he  will  tell  the  story  of  the  famous  Jew  Ru- 
faiel  of  Damascus.  So  he  begins : 

The  story  of  Rufaiel,  the  rich  Jew  of  Damascus, 
and  the  Moslem  Dervish.. 

Once  there  lived  in  Damascus  a  rich  Jew  named 
Rufaiel.  He  had  great  wealth  in  marble  palaces  and 
rich  silk  robes,  and  well  stored  bazaars,  and  his  wife 
and  daughters  were  clad  in  velvets  and  satins,  in  gold 
and  precious  stones.'  He  had  also  great  wit  and  cun- 
ning, and  often  helped  his  fellow  Jews  out  of  their 
troubles.  Now  the  Pasha  of  Damascus  was  a  Mo- 
hammedan, who  had  a  superstitious  fear  of  the  holy 
Moslem  Dervishes,  and  they  could  persuade  him  to 
tax  and  oppress  the  Jews  in  the  most  cruel  manner. 
In  those  days  there  came  to  Damascus  a  holy  Der- 
vish who  had  long,  uncombed  black  hair,  and  although 
he  was  a  vile  and  wicked  man,  he  made  the  people 
believe  that  he  was  a  holy  saint,  and  could  perform 
wonderful  miracles.  The  Pasha  held  him  in  great 
reverence,  and  invited  him  often  to  dinner,  and  when 
he  came  in,  he  would  stoop  and  kiss  the  Dervish's 
feet !  And  what  was  most  wonderful  of  all,  the  Der- 
vish left  Damascus  every  Thursday  night  after  bid- 
ding the  Pasha  farewell,  and  journeyed  to  Mecca 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


355 


and  returned  in  the  morning  and  told  the  Pasha  all 
the  Mecca  news  and  what  he  had  seen  and  heard. 
This  he  did  every  week,  though  all  wise  men  laughed 
at  him,  and  said  he  only,  went  out  of  the  City  Gate 
and  slept  in  the  gardens  of  Damascus  ! 

Now  the  Dervish  was  a  great  enemy  of  the  Jews. 
He  hated  them,  cursed  them,  spat  upon  them,  and 
called  them  infidel  dogs,  and  he  persuaded  the  Pa- 
sha to  increase  their  taxes  fourfold.  Their  sufferings 
now  became  very  great.  They  had  to  sell  their 
houses  and  furniture  to  pay  the  heavy  taxes,  and 
many  were  beaten  and  thrust  into  prison.  So  the 
leading  Jews  in  their  distress  came  to  Rufaiel,  and 
begged  him  to  go  to  the  Pasha  and  obtain  relief  for 
them  and  their  families.  He  said  he  would  think 
about  the  matter.  So  after  they  had  gone,  he  called 
the  chief  jeweller  and  pipe  maker  of  the  city,  and 
ordered  them  to  make  a  long  pipe  of  exquisite  work- 
manship, with  a  stem  of  rosewood  carved  and  inlaid 
with  pearls,  a  bowl  of  pure  gold  set  with  diamonds, 
and  a  mouth-piece  of  gold  and  amber.  Then  he  went 
one  day  to  call  on  the  Pasha,  and  made  him  a  present 
of  this  elegant  pipe,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been 
seen  in  Damascus.  The  Pasha  was  greatly  pleased 
and  ordered  all  in  his  presence  to  retire  that  he  might 
enjoy  the  society  of  Rufaiel,  the  munificent  Jew. 
Then  Rufaiel  turned  to  the  Pasha  and  said,  "  may 
your  Excellency  live  forever !  I  have  brought  you 
this  pipe  as  a  faint  token  of  my  high  esteem  and  af- 
fection, but  I  am  filled  with  deepest  sorrow  that  it  is 
not  perfect."  "  Not  perfect  ?  "  said  the  Pasha.  "  In 


2 -6  'IHE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

what  respect  could  it  be  more  perfect  than  what  it 
is?  "  Said  Rufaiel,  "you  will  notice  that  between  the 
amber  and  the  gold  of  the  mouth-piece  a  little  ring 
is  wanting.  This  ring  was  the  very  gem  and  excel- 
lence of  the  pipe.  It  was  cut  from  the  Black  Stone 
of  the  Kaaba  in  Me.cca,  and  has  miraculous  properties. 
But  when  the  pipe  was  brought  from  Mecca,  the  ring 
was  left  with  Mustafa,  the  jeweller,  who  is  ready  to 
send  it  by  the  first  fit  opportunity."  "  Alas,"  said  the 
Pasha,  "but  how  can- we  send  for  it  now  ?  The  Pil- 
grim caravan  has  gone,  and  there  will  be  none  again  for 
a  year.3'  "  Oh,"  said  Rufaiel,  "  this  is  easily  arranged. 
To-day  is  Thursday,  and  to-night  the  holy  Dervish 
will  go  to  Mecca  and  return  to-morrow  morning.  Your 
Excellency  need  only  command  him  to  bring  the 
black  ring,  and  before  this  time  to-morrow  the  pipe 
will  be  complete  in  its  beauty  and  excellency."  "El 
Hamdu  Lillah  !  Praise  to  Allah  !  It  shall  be  done!" 
So  when  Rufaiel  had  gone,  the  Pasha  summoned  the 
Dervish,  and  told  him  of  this  wonderful  pipe  which 
had  come  to  him  from  Mecca,  and  that  it  only  need- 
ed the  black  ring  to  make  it  absolutely  perfect,  and 
that  he  was  hereby  commanded  on  pain  of  death  to 
bring  the  ring  from  Mecca  before  Friday  at  the  hour 
of  noon  prayer.  The  Dervish  bowed  most  obeisantly 
and  retired  black  in  the  face  with  rage  and  despair. 
But  it  occurred  to  him  at  once  that  none  in  Damas- 
cus but  Rufaiel  could  have  purchased  such  a  pipe. 
So  he  left  the  City  Gate,  called  the  Bab  Allah,  or 
Gate  of  God,  at  sunset,  bidding  his  friends  farewell, 
and  walked  away  in  the  gardens  until  night  came  on 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHATTER. 


357 


Then,  at  the  sixth  hour  of  the  night  he  returned  by 
another  gate,  and  crept  along  to  the  door  of  the 
mansion  of  Rufaiel.  The  door  was  opened,  and  Ru- 
faiel  received  him  with  great  politeness.  The  Der- 
vish fell  on  the  floor  and  kissed  his  feet  and  begged 
for  his  life.  Said  he,  "  give  me  that  black  ring  which 
belongs  to  the  Pasha's  pipe,  and  we  will  be  friends 
forever !  Ask  what  you  will  and  it  shall  be  done  to 
you.  Only  give  me  this  ring."  Said  Rufaiel,  "  you 
have  ruined  my  people  with  oppression,  and  now  do 
you  ask  a  favor?"  "Yes,''  said  the  Dervish,  "and 
you  shall  have  any  favor  you  ask."  So  Rufaiel  thought 
to  himself  a  moment,  and  then  said,  "  I  ask  one  thing. 
Do  you  obtain  from  the  Pasha  an  orde/  on  all  the  tax 
collectors  of  Damascus,  that  when  any  Jew  shall  say, 
/  am  one  of  the  Seventy,  the  collector  shall  pass  him 
by,  and  no  tax  ever  be  demanded  of  him."  "Done," 
said  the'Dervish,  and  embracing  Rufaiel,  he  bade  him 
goqd -night.  Then  in  the  morning  he  hastened  in  at- 
Bab  Allah,  and  presented  the  ring  to  the  Pasha,  who 
was  so  delighted  that  he  granted  his  request,  and 
orders  were  given  that  no  tax  should  ever  be  collect- 
.ed  from  any  Jew  who  should  say  "  I  am  one  of  the 
Seventy."  Then  Rufaiel  assembled  all  the  Jews  of 
Damascus,  and  bade  them  say  to  the  tax-gatherers 
whenever  they  came,  "  I  am  one  of  the  Seventy."  So 
the  Jews  had  rest  from  taxation,  all  the  days  of 
Rufaiel. 

Saleh  Bu  Nusr,  one  of  the  best  men  in  Mount 
Lebanon,  and  the  father  of  Khalil,  who  brought  us 
the  list  of  Arab  boys'  games,  has  already  told  ui  the 


358 


THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 


story  of  the  Goats  and  the  Ghoul,  and  he  says  that 
the  savory  odor  of  the  egg  plant  being  cooked  for 
the  wedding  guests,  reminds  him  of  the  story  of  the 
Badinjan  or  Egg  Plant. 

Once  there  was  a  great  Emir  or  Prince  who  had 
a  very  abject  and  obsequious  servant  named  Deeb 
(Wolf).  One  day  Deeb  brought  to  the  Emir  for  his 
dinner  a  dish  of  stewed  badinjan,  which  pleased  the 
Emir  so  much  that  he  complimented  Deeb,  and  told 
him  that  it  was  the  best  dinner  he  had  eaten  for 
months.  Deeb  bowed  to  the  earth  and  kissed  the 
feet  of  the  Emir,  and  said,  "  may  God  prolong  the  life 
of  your  excellency!  Your  excellency  knows  what  is 
good.  There  is  nothing  like  the  badinjan.  It  is  the 
best  of  vegetables.  Its  fruit  is  good,  its  leaf  is  good, 
its  stalk  is  good,  and  its  root  is  good.  It  is  good 
roasted,  stewed,  boiled,  fried,  and  even  raw.  It  is 
good  for  old  and  young.  Your  excellency,  there  is 
nothingfclike  the  badinjan."  Now  the  Emir  was  ugu- 
sually  hungry,  and  ate  so  bountifully  of  the  badinjan 
that  he  was  made  very  ill.  So  he  sent  for  Deeb,  and 
rebuked  him  sharply,  saying,  "  you  rascal,  you  Deeb, 
your  name  is  Wolf,  and  you  are  rightly  named. 
This  badinjan  which  you  praised  so  highly  has  al- 
most killed  me."  "  Exactly  so,"  said  Deeb,  "  may 
your  excellency  live  forever!  The  badinjan  is  the  \ai- 
lest  of  plants.  It  is  never  eaten  without  injury.  Its 
fruit  is  injurious,  its  leaf  is  injurious,  its  stalk  is  nox- 
ious, and  its  root  is  the  vilest  of  all.  It  is  not  fit 
'  ajell  shanak  Allah,'  for  the  pigs  to  eat,  whether 
raw,  roasted,  stewed,  boiled  or  fried.  It  is  injurious 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER. 


359 


to  the  young  and  dangerous  to  the  old.  Your  ex- 
cellency, there  is  nothing  so  bad  as  the  badinjan  ! 
Never  touch  the  badinjan  !  " — "  Out  with  you,  you 
worthless  fellow,  you  Deeb  !  What  do  you  mean 
by  praising  the  badinjan  when  I  praise  it,  and  abu- 
sing it  when  it  injures  me  ?  "  "  Ah,  your  excellency," 
said  Deeb,  "  am  I  the  servant  of  the  badinjan,  or  the 
servant  of  your  excellency  ?  I  must  say  what  pleases 
you,  but  it  makes  no  difference  whether  I  please  the 
badinjan  or  not." 

The  wedding  party  is  now  over,1  and  the  guests 
are  departing.  Each  one  on  leaving  says,  "  by  your  • 
pleasure,  good  evening!  "  The  host  answers,  "go  in 
peace,  you  have  honored  us.''  The  guests  reply, 
"we  have  been  honored,  Allah 'give  the  newly  mar- 
ried ones  an  arees,''  (a  bridegroom).  They  would 
not  dare  wish  that  Shaheen  and  Handumeh  might 
some  .day  have  a  little  baby  girl.  That  would  be 
thought  an  insult. 

We  will  walk  up  the  hill  to  our  mountain  home, 
passing  the  fountain  and  the  great  walnut  trees. 
Here  comes  a  horseman.  It  is  Ali,  who  has  been 
spending  a  month  among  the  Bedawin  Arabs.  He 
will  come  up  and  stay  with  us,  and  tell  us  of  his  ad- 
ventures. He  says  that  the  Sit  Harba,  the  wife  of  the 
great  Arab  Sheikh  ed  Dukhy,  taught  him  a  number  of 
the  Bedawin  Nursery  Songs,  and  although  he  is  weary 
"with  his  journey,  he  will  repeat  some  of  them  in  Arabic. 

They  are  all  about  camels  and  spears  and  fighting 
and  similar  subjects,  and  no  wonder,  as  they  see 
nothing  else,  and  think  of  nothing  else. 


360  THE   WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

To-morrow  is  the  feast  day, 
We've  no  "  henna  "  on  our  hands  ; 
Our  camels  went  to  bring  it, 
From  far  off  distant  lands  ; 
We'll  rise  by  night  and  listen, 
The  camel  bells  will  ring ; 
And  say  a  thousand  welcomes 
To  those  who  "  henna  "  bring. 

And  here  is  a  song  which  shows  that  the  Bedawin 
have  the  same  habit  of  cursing  their  enemies,  which 
we  noticed  in  the  Druze  lullabys: 

On  the  rose  and  sweetest  myrtle, 
May  you  sleep,  my  eyes,  my  boy  ; 
But  may  sharpest  thorns  and  briars, 
All  your  enemies  destroy  ! 

Ali  says  that  one  of  the  most  mournful  songs  he 
heard  in  the  desert  was  the  following: 

I  am  like  a  wounded  camel, 
I  grind  my  teeth  in  pain  ; 
My  load  is  great  and  heavy, 
I  am  tottering  again. 
My  back  is  torn  and  bleeding, 
My  wound  is  past  relief, 
And  what  is  harder  still  to  bear, 
None  other  knows  my  grief! 

The  next  is  a  song  which  the  people  sung  in  the 
villages  on  the  borders  of  the  desert.  By  "  the  sea" 
they  mean  the  Sea  of  Galilee  : 

My  companions  three, 

Were  fishing  by  the  sea  ; 

The  Arabs  captured  one,  > 

The  Koords  took  his  brother, 

In  one  land  was  I, 

My  friends  were  in  another. 


THE  CIIJLDREA"S  CII.4FTEK.  361 

I  was  left  to  moan, 

In  sorrow  deep  and  sad, 

Like  a  camel  all  alone, 

Departing  to  Baghdad  ; 

My  soul  I  beg  you  tell  me  whether, 

Once  parted  friends  e'er  met  together? 

The  Bedawin  have  as  low  an  idea  of  girls  as  the 
Btdawin  in  the  cities,  and  are  very  glad  when  a  boy 
is  born.  Sometimes  when  the  Abeih  girls  are  play- 
ing together,  you  will  hear  a  little  girl  call  out,  "  it 
is  very  small  indeed.  Why  it  is  a  little  wee  thing^  as 
small  as  was  the  rejoicing  the  day  I  was  born !  " 
But  hear  what  the  Bedawin  women  sing  when  a  boy 
is  born  : 

Mashallah,  a  boy,  a  boy  ! 

May  Allah's  eye  defend  him ! 

May  she  who  sees  and  says  not  the  Name, 

Be  smitten  with  blindness  and  die  in  shame ! 

How  would  you  like  to  live  among  the  Bedawin, 
and  have  a  dusky  Arab  woman,  clad  in  coarse  gar- 
ments, covered  with  vermin  and  odorous  of  garlic  and 
oil,  to  sing  you  to  sleep  on  a  mat  on  the^ground? 

Hasten  my  cameleer,  where  are  you  going? 
It  is  eventide,  and  the  camels  are  lowing : 
My  house  in  a  bundle  I  bear  on  my  back, 
"Whenever  night  comes,  I  my  bundle  unpack. 

The  next  is  a  song  of  the  pastoral  Arabs: 

Hasten  my  guide  and  lead  us  away, 
For  we  have  fought  and  lost  the  day ; 
To  the  well  we  went  all  thirsty  and  worn, 
The  well  was  dry  !  and  we  slept  forlorn. 
16 


362  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

The  Bedawin  came  in  battle  array, 
Attacked  us  all  famished  at  break  of  day, 
And  took  all  our  camels  and  tents  away  ! 

Death  enters  the  Bedawin  tents  as  well  as  the 
palaces  of  kings  and  the  comfortable  homes  of  the 
people  in  Christian  lands.  But  what  desolation  it 
leaves  behind  in  those  dark  sorrowing  hearts,  who 
know  nothing  of  the  love  of  Jesus  and  the  consola- 
tions of  the  gospel.  This  is  a  funeral  song  the  poor 
Bedawin  women  sing  over  the  death  of  a  child  : 

Oh  hasten  my  camel,  begone,  begone, 

Oh  haste  where  your  loved  ones  stay  : 

There  weep  and  lament.     There  my  "  spirit"  is  gone, 

Is  gone  to  a  night  without  day  : 

Oh  Star  of  the  Morning,  thou  Star  of  the  day, 

And  Star  of  the  Evening,  both  hasten  away, 

And  bring  me  a  balm  for  my  wounded  heart, 

For  I  from  my  child,  my  "  spirit "  must  part. 

Soon  may  the  "  day  dawn,  and  the  day  star 
arise  "  in  their  dark  hearts,  and  Jesus  the  "  Bright 
and  Morning  Star  ''  be  their  po/tion  forever  ! 

The  next  song  is  about  the  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem.  Thousands  of  Greeks,  Armenians  and 
Catholics  go  to  Jerusalem  every  year  to  visit  the 
"  Holy  Places,"  and  get  a  certificate  of  the  pardon 
of  all  their  sins.  The  Greek  Patriarch  performs 
a  lying  imposture  called  the  Holy  Fire  every  year 
at  Greek  Easter,  by  lighting  a  candle  with  a  match  in- 
side a  dark  room,  and  declaring  that  it  is  miraculous- 
ly lighted  by  fire  which  conies" forth  from  the  tomb  of 
Christ  !  So  the  poof  Greek  woman  sings  to  her  child  : 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  363 

Oh  take  me  on  a  pilgrimage, 

Jerusalem  to  see  : 

The  Tomb  of  Christ  and  Holy  fire, 

And  Hill  of  Calvary  : 

And  then  I'll  to  the  Convent  go, 

Ask  pardon  for  my  sin  : 

And  say,  my  Lady,  now  forgive, 

And  comfo'-t  me  again. 

The  next  is  really  beautiful,  and  is  good  enough 
for  any  mother  to  sing  to  her  child.  It  is  a  morning 
song : 

Praise  to  Him  who  brings  the  light, 

And  keeps  the  birds  in  darkest  night. 

God  is  merciful  to  all, 

Rise  ye  men  and  on  Him  call  ! 

Allah  praise  in  every  lot, 

He  keeps  you  and  you  know  it  not. 

And  this  one  too,  about  the  little  worms,  is  curi- 
ous enough  : 

Praise  to  Him  who  feeds  the  worms, 
In  the  silent  vale  ! 
Provides  their  portion  every  day, 
Protects  them  in  the  dangerous  way. 
No  doubt  they  praise  Him  too,  and  pray, 
In  the  silent  vale  ! 

When  our  good  friend  Yusef,  whom  we  saw  in 
Safita,  asked  the  Nusairiyeh  women  to  repeat  to  him 
their  nursery  rhymes,  they  denied  that  they  had  any. 
They  were  afraid  to  recite  them,  lest  he  write  them 
do\vn  and  use  them  as  a  magic  spell  or  charm  against 
them.  When  a  child  is  born  among  them,  no  one 
is  allowed  to  take  a  coal  or  spark  of  fire  from  the 


364  THE    WOMEN  OF  THE  ARABS. 

house  for  a  week,  lest  the  child  be  injured.  They 
always  hang  a  little  coin  around  the  child's  neck  to 
keep  off  eruptions  and  diseases  from  its  body. 

You  must  be  weary  by  this  time,  after  Handu- 
meh's  wedding  and  the  story  telling. and  the  Bcda- 
win  songs.  Let  us  retire  to  rest  for  the  night,  thank- 
ful for  the  precious  Bible,  and  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus  Christ.  You  are  safe  indeed  in  the  hands  of 
God,  and  need  not  fear  the  Ghoul  nor  the  Bah'oo. 
Good  night. 

Such  is  life.  Yesterday  a  wedding,  and  to-day  a 
funeral.  Do  you  hear  that  terrific  wail,  those  shrieks 
and- bitter  cries  of  anguish?  Young  Sheikh  Milham 
has  died.  The  Druze  and  Christian  women  are  gath- 
ered in  the  house,  and  wailing  together  in  the  most 
piteous  manner.  It -is  dreadful  to  think  what  suffer- 
ings the  poor  women  must  endure.  They  do  every- 
thing possible  to  excite  one  another.  They  not  only 
call  out,  "  Milham,  my  pride,  my  bridegroom,  star  of 
my  life,  you  have  set,  my  flower,  you  have  faded," 
but  they  remind  each  other  of  all  the  deaths  that 
have  occurred  in  their  various  families  for  years,  and 
thus  open  old  wounds  of  sorrow  which  time  had 
healed.  Yet  they  have  regular  funeral  songs,  and 
we  will  listen  while  they  sing  in  a  mournful  strain  : 

Milham  Beg  my  warrior, 
Your  spear  is  burnished  gold  : 
Your  costly  robes  and  trappings, 
Will  in  the  street  -be  sold. 
"  Where  is  the  Beg  who  bore  me  ?  " 
I  hear  the  armor  crying — 
Where  is  the  lord  who  wore  me  ? 
I  hear  the  garments  sighing. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  365 

Now  Im  Hassein  from  Ainab  bursts  out  in  a  loud 
song,  addressing  the  dead  body,  around  which  they 
are  all  seated  on  the  ground  : 

Rise  up  my  lord,  gird  on  your  sword, 

Of  heavy  Baalbec  steel  ; 

Why  leave  it  hanging  on  the  nail  ? 

Let  foes  its  temper  feel  ! 

Would  that  the  Pasha's  son  had  died, 

Not  our  Barmakeh's  son  and  pride  ! 

Then  Lemis  answers  in  another  song  in  which 
they  all  join  : 

Ten  thousands  are  thronging  together, 
The  Beg  has  a  feast  to-day  ; 
We  thought  he  had  gone  on  a  visit, 
But  alas,  he  has  gone  to  stay. 

Then  they  all  scream,  and  tear 'their  hair  and  beat 
their  breasts.  Alas,  they  have  no  light  beyond  the 
grave.  Who  could  expect  them  to  do  otherwise? 
The  Apostle  Paul  urges  the  Christians  "  not  to  sorrow 
even  as  others  which  have  no  hope !  "  This  is  sorrow 
without  hope.  The  grave  is  all  dark  to  them.  How 
we  should  thank  our  Saviour  for  having  cast  light  on 
the  darkness  of  the  tomb,  and  given  us  great  conso- 
lation in  our  sorrows  !  Here  conies  a  procession  of 
women  from  Kefr  Metta.  Hear  them  chanting: 


I  saw  the  mourners  thronging  round, 
I  saw  the  beds  thrown  on  the  ground  ; 
The  marble  columns  leaning, 
The  wooden  begins  careening, 


366  THE   IVOMEX  OF  THE  ARABS. 

My  lord  and  Sheikh  with  flowing  tears, 
I  asked  what  was  its  meaning? 
He  sadly  beckoned  me  aside, 
And  said,  To-day  my  son  has  died  ! 

Then  an  old  woman,  a  widow,  who  has  been  re- 
minded of  the  death  of  her  husband,  calls  out  to 
him  : 

Oh,  Sheikh,  have  you  gone  to  the  land  ? 

Then  give  my  salams  to  my  boy, 

He  has  gone  on  a  long,  long  journey, 

And  took  neither  clothing  nor  toy. 

Ah,  what  will  he  wear  on  the  feast  days, 

When  the  people  their  festal  enjoy? 

Now  one  of  the  women  addresses  the  corpse : 

Lord  of  the  wide  domain, 
All  praise  of  you  is  true  : 
The  women  of  your  hareem, 
Are  dressed  in  mourning  blue. 

Then  one  sings  the  mother's  wail : 

My  tears  are  consuming  my  heart, 

How  can  I  from  him  bear  to  part. 

Oh  mven  of  death,  tell  me  why, 

You  betrayed  me  and  left  him  to  die  ? 

Oh  raven  of  death  begone  ! 

You  falsely  betrayed  my  son  ! 

Oh  Milham,  I  beg  you  to  tell, 

Why  you've  gone  to  the  valley  to  dwell  ? 

From  far,  far  away  1  have  come, 

Who  will  come  now  to  take  me  back  home? 

Then  rises  such  a  wail  as  you  never  heard  before. 
A  hundred  women  all  screaming  together  and  then 
grasping  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  corpse,  while  the 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  367 

men  are  coming  to  take  it  a\vay.  The  women  hug 
and  kiss  the  corpse,  and  try  to  pull  it  back,  while  the 
men  drive  them  off,  and  carry  it  out  to  the  bier. 
Some  of  the  women  faint  away,  and  a  piercing 
shriek  arises.  Then  you  hear  the  mothers  wail 
again. 

Then  one  sings  the  call  of  the  dead  man  for  help: 

Oh  ransom  me,  buy  me,  my  friends  to-day, 

'Tis  a  costly  ransom  you'll  have  to  pay, 

Oh  ransom  me,  fafner,  whate'er  they  demand, 

Though  they  take  all  your  money  and  houses  and  land. 


another  sings  his  address  to  the  grave-dig- 
gers : 

Oh  cease,  grave-diggers,  my  feelings  you  shock, 

I  forbade  you  to  dig,  you  have  dug  to  the  rock  ; 

I  bade  you  dig  little,  you  have  dug  so  deep  ! 

When  his  father's  not  here,  will  you  lay  him  to  sleep": 

Then  a  poor  woman  who  has  lately  buried  a 
young  daughter  begins  to  sing  : 

Oh  bride  !  on  the  roofs  of  heaven, 
Come  now  and  look  over  the  wall  : 
Oh  let  your  sad  mother  but  see  you, 
Oh  let  her  not  vainly  call  ! 
Hasten,  her  heart  is  breaking, 
Let  her  your  smile  behold  ; 
The  mother  is  sadly  weeping, 
The  maiden  is  still  and  cold. 

The  Druzes  believe  that  millions  of  Druzes  live 
in  China  and  that  China  is  a  kind  of  heaven.  So  an- 
other woman  sings: 


-C8  '    THE   U'OMEX  OF  THE  ARABS. 

Yullah,  now  my  lady,  happy  is  your  state  ! 

Happy  China's  people,  when  you  reached  the  gate  ! 

Lady,  you  are  passing, 

To  the  palace  bright, 

All  the  stars  supassing, 

On  the  brow  of  night ! 

And  now  the  body  is  taken  to  be  buried,  and  the 
women  return  to  the  house,  where  the  wailing  is 
kept  up  for  days  and  weeks.  They  have  many  oth- 
er funeral  songs,  of  which  I  will  give  two  in  conclu- 


Ye  Druzes,  gird  on  your  swords, 
A  great  one  is  dead  to-day  ; 
The  Arabs  came  down  upon  us, 
(They  thought  us  in  battle  array, 
But  they  wept  when  they  found  us  mourning, 
For  our  leader  has  gone  away  ! 

The  next  is  the  lament  of  the  mother  over  her 
dead  son : 

The  sun  is  set,  the  tents  are  rolled, 
Happy  the  mother  whose  lambs  are  in  fold  ; 
But  one  who  death's  dark  sorrow  knew, 
Let  her  go  to  the  Nile  of  indigo  blue, 
And  dye  her  robes  a  mourning  hue  ! 

And  now,  my  dear  boy,  our  Syrian  journey  is 
ended.  You  have  seen  and  heard  many  strange 
things.  Whatever  is  good  among  the  Arabs,  try  to 
imitate ;  whatever  is  evil,  avoid.  Perhaps  you  will 
write  to  me  some  day,  and  tell  me  what  you  think 
of  Syria  and  the  Syrians.  Many  little  boys  and 
girls  will  read  this  long  letter,  but  it  is  your  letter, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CHAPTER.  369 

and  I  have  written  it  for  your  instruction  and  amuse- 
ment. 

May  the  good  Shepherd,  who  gave  His  life  for 
the  sheep,  lead  you  beside  the  still  waters  of  life,  and 
at  last  when  He  shall  appear,  may  He  give  you  a 
crown  of  glory  which  fadeth  not  away! 


THE    END. 


3/2 

Swearing,  240 
iSoum  el  Kebir,  2<x> 
Smith,  Mrs.,  17,  50,  120 
Syrian  School-Houses,  235 

Tribe  of  Temin,  3 
Triangle  of  Solomon,  36 
Temple,  Miss,  97 
Thomson,  Dr.,  48,  100,  123 
Thomson,  Miss  Emilia,  104 
Tod,  Mrs.  Alexander,  122 
Thomp  on,  Mrs'.  Bowen,2o3 

Telegraph,  310 
Tilden,  33,54,60 

Van  Dyck,  31,  107,  117,  127,  172 
Value  Set  on  Woman's  Life,  196 

Wahidy,  19 

Women's  Work,  1820  to  1872,  45 

\VorUibct  Salome,  49,  64 


INDEX. 


Whiulesey,  Mrs.  A.L.,  74,  78 
Watson,  Mrs.,  98,  204 
Women's  Boards  cf  Missions,  101 
Whiting,  Mrs.,  31,  57,  63,  125 
Wilson,  Rev.  1XM.,  83,  142 
Werdeh,is6 

|  Woriabet,  Rev.  John  202 
|  Whiting,  Rev.,  50,  58,  61 
Waly,29i 

Wor'tabet,  Gregory,  49,  51 
Williams,  Miss  Rebecca,  52,  55 

Yusef  Jedid,  40 

Yusef  Ahtiyth.ajS,  281 

Yanni,  237,  254,  256,  289,  300,  309 

Yusef  Keram,  301 

Zarifeh,  the  Poetess,  6 
Zeyarehs,  37,  268 
Zahara,  39 
Zanfy,  no 
Zahidy,  287 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Lo.  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


MAR  21  1994 


1A1NO-3 

S-ANCEl  REC'D  LO 


1AINH-3 
!BRAR> 


315 


i.OF-CAll 


* 


<*MHJNIVERS/A 
<3\         «,  & 

i       SlrfS-s 

l^V)i  s 

\ 


